Australia has increased the number of scholarships offered to Tongan citizens with 43 confirmed to take up university studies starting next year compared to 37 offered in 2018.

The successful scholars were given a farewell reception hosted by Australian High Commissioner, Adrian Morrison on 29 November.

Eighteen applicants have offers to study at postgraduate level in Australia and 25 have offers to study undergraduate or postgraduate level at universities in Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu.

The scholars will begin travelling next month to undertake their full-time studies.

Each year Australia offers two scholarship schemes for Tongan citizens to apply for between February and April.

One is the Australia Awards Scholarship (AAS) where successful applicants undertake full time postgraduate study at any Australian institution.

The other is the Australia Awards Pacific Scholarship (AAPS) which offers full time undergraduate or postgraduate studies at selected institutions within the Pacific region.

Both schemes are managed by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the aim to contribute to the development needs of Australia's partner countries, including Tonga, in line with bilateral and regional agreements.

The scholarships are a platform to help develop skills and knowledge of scholarship recipients to drive change and contribute to the development of Tonga.