Indonesian students are seen here at a Catholic high school in Jayapura, Papua. (Photo: Ryan Dagur/UCA News)
Indonesia’s government says it will expand scholarship opportunities for students from poor families to study at universities in a move hailed by church officials.
Giving underprivileged youths better access to further education will improve their job prospects and help reduce poverty, they said.
An additional 400,000 students from underprivileged families will get scholarships this year as part of the Indonesia Smart Card-College scheme, according to the Education and Culture Ministry.
The sharp increase in this year’s quota almost equals 418,000 scholarships granted to poor students over the past three years.
"We hope students interested in going to college do not give up their dreams just because there is no funding,” said Paristiyanti, secretary-general of the ministry’s higher education department.
Registration for the scholarships is open from March 2-31 through the ministry’s website.
Scholarship recipients will receive 6,600,000 rupiah (US$455) each semester for tuition and living expenses, Paristiyanti said.
This program aims to enable "children from poor families break the chain of poverty that has been holding them back,” she said, adding it also sought to attract more people into higher education in order to fill vacancies in skilled positions in today’s changing job market.
The number of young Indonesians entering college is relatively low, an average of 35 percent, and lags behind neighboring countries such as Malaysia (37 percent), Thailand (51 percent), Singapore (82 percent) and South Korea (92 percent).
Franciscan Father Vinsensius Darmin Mbula, chairman of the National Council for Catholic Education, called the move “good news for poor families.”
"We are taking advantage of this opportunity and instructing diocesan education councils throughout Indonesia to promote this," he told UCA News on March 2.
He said the government needs to ensure that this scholarship goes to those from poor families.
"Strict government control is needed so that the recipients are the right people and that the scheme is not exploited,” the priest said. “Many aid programs like this have not been enjoyed by the poor but by those who are close to government officials.”
Damianus Barut, a Catholic farmer in Mano on Flores Island, said his son graduated from high school last year but he could not afford to send him to college. He said the scholarship could save his son from having to look for low-paid menial work to raise the money.
“I’ve put his name down [for the scholarship] already,” Barut told UCA News. “Let’s hope he can be accepted.”