LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—At least 53 students from different universities in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are currently in Pangasinan as part of their 29-day internship program in various fields of studies.
They are being hosted by the Pangasinan State University (PSU), which is a member university under the Southeast Asian Ministry of Education Organization (SEAMEO).
Dr. Sally Jarin, director for international affairs of PSU, said the students were doing their internship program in education, engineering, business administration, tourism and agriculture.
Their activities include field visits to various points of interest located in different towns and cities of Pangasinan, including schools, business centers, farms and factories.
They began their field visits as soon as they arrived in Pangasinan on Monday by paying a call to the Pangasinan provincial board at the capitol when it was conducting its regular session.
While at the capitol, they also visited various offices of the provincial government and toured the capitol grounds.
Jarin explained that PSU had linkages with 62 universities in ASEAN under (SEAMEO), saying it was from among these universities where the students came from. She revealed they had also other partner universities in South Korea, Japan and China.
“But for this visit, we have 53 students from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, all from ASEAN, alone,“ she said, pointing out that these students were chosen by their respective ministries of education to be in this program.
In turn, the foreign students took time out to invite the people of the province, through town and city mayors, to visit their respective countries.
Ponlawat Promwinai, 19, and a 4th year student in Thailand, said she was glad that she was among the students given the chance to visit the Philippines.
She added she was not new to the kind of weather in the Philippines which she added was similar to theirs.
She said the people she and his fellow students met were warm and hospitable and the food tasted just like home. (Leonardo Micua/PNA)