CDF founded the “Vocational Education Scholarship” in 2017 via China Development Foundation (hereinafter “the Foundation”), empowering less privileged students who have technical or vocational skills with financial aid to achieve their dreams. As of now, NT$3.5mn in scholarships has been granted to over 300 students. The Foundation says it is accepting applications to help young students cultivate skills.
One such scholarship recipient is Weiping Guo, a senior at National Da-Hu Agricultural & Industrial Vocational High School in Miaoli County. From a poor farming family, Weiping has been working part-time since he was a freshman in junior high school to earn tuition and living expenses so that he can finish school. Realizing the importance of acquiring vocational skills in his junior high school years, he chose the mechanical discipline at vocational high school. After three years of hard work, he was awarded a silver medal in the tooling vocation category at a central Taiwan national competition. He thanks the Foundation for the scholarship, which allowed him to prepare for the competition and lessen the pressure to get a job immediately after graduation.
Young students receiving CDF’s scholarships have been successful in various fields of vocational skills in recent years. Weizhi Wang, who graduated from National Huwei Agricultural & Industrial Vocational Senior High School, applied for the scholarship aiming to be a national team member. He won nine-month living expense subsidies that enabled him to take a training course sponsored by the Vocational Training and Employment Services Center of Tainan City. He represented Taiwan at the 45th Worldskills Competition held in Russia last year and won an Excellence Medal in the gypsum technology and drywall system (painting) category. Shutzi Zhao and Junyi Chen, students at Yuda Senior High School, applied for the scholarship as the 2019 first- and third-prize winners in the hairdressing category. They have been granted subsidies to purchase hairdressing training materials and are now preparing for competition in September to qualify as Taiwan representatives.
China Development Foundation says both of “The Flying Elephant in Our Class: Little Talents with Big Futures” scholarship and the “Vocational Education Scholarship” have long been assisting underprivileged students with great potential in the pursuit of their dreams. The foundation is still accepting applications. Please visit http://www.cdibf.org/ for details.
