Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Oyu Tolgoi LLC reported Friday that it organized Thursday an award ceremony to recognize 35 Mongolian students who were selected to receive domestic and international scholarships from the company for the academic year 2015-2016.

Present at the ceremony were new awardees, former recipients, their parents, several Ministries,  members of the OT team, including Batsukh Galsan, a Chairman of the OT Board of Directors, and Michael Gavin, a General Manager--People and Organization.

Addressing the audience, the Minister of Labor G.Bayarsaikhan said, “OT is a company that is representing the name of Mongolia as it becomes a prominent player in the world copper market.

"OT’s investment in the education of students, who are the future of Mongolia, proves that our goals are the same. This is an important part of broader cooperation between the Government of Mongolia, the Ministry of Labor and OT. For the labor sector, OT has contributed a great deal through various projects including, upgrading of vocational training centers and their curriculum and providing modern training equipment”.

Batsukh Galsan said,“We are pleased to have the opportunity here today to recognize some of the best and brightest students in Mongolia, and to have the opportunity to support their future endeavors. Looking at past scholars, I am sure that these talented youth will not only set a new bar of excellence, and but also inspire others to strive to be the best and together take Mongolia forward”.

Former scholarship awardee, Tugsbuyan Tsedenbaljir noted that the "OT scholarship didn’t only give me financial support but, most importantly, it put trust in me, trust that helped me to be more successful.

"In 2010-2015, I was enrolled in all OT’s scholarships and I feel proud that I have been part of this great programme which is contributing to Mongolia’s development. With every scholarship, the dreams of a student and their family come true. I would like to thank OT for making hundreds of these dreams a reality."

In order to ensure maximum reach and awareness, the scholarship programme was advertised through daily newspapers, the OT website, social media and through outreach events at universities. Over 400 applications were received, and a three-stage selection process implemented to select finalists.

The 31 recipients for the 2015-16 domestic scholarships come from across Mongolia’s leading education institutions - 16 students from Mongolian University of Science and Technology, nine from the National University of Mongolia, three from Darkhan Technology University, two from Medical University, and one from Mongolian University of Life Sciences respectively.

The international scholarship programme saw 20 applications, with four selected as finalists. The selected students commence their study in mining and occupational health in August, 2016.