Education Endowment Fund for Human Capital Improvement
Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani
Ministry of Finance has initiated the establishment of an endowment fund for education so that the entire budget allocated to education is not spent in only one fiscal year. The Government allocates every year a minimum of 20 percent of the State Budget to this sector.
“The establishment of the education endowment fund aims to finance scholarship for the general public, the State Apparatus, the Indonesian National Defense Forces as well as the National Police personnel in order to create an intergenerational fund,” said Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani during the launch of Merdeka Belajar (Freedom to Learn) Episode 10: Expansion of the Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) Scholarship Program, in Jakarta, Thursday (22/4).
She expressed hope that Ministry of Education and Culture and Ministry of Religious Affairs will design the use of the endowment fund to be beneficial for generations to come.
Sri went on to say that since the LPDP program was established, there has been an accumulated endowment fund of Rp70.1 trillion from the initial amount of Rp1 trillion, which consists of endowment fund for education of Rp61.1 trillion, a research endowment fund of Rp4.99 trillion, an endowment fund for higher education of Rp3 trillion and an endowment fund for culture of Rp1 trillion.
The use of endowment fund through the LPDP program is expected to provide flexible and effective support for programs designed by Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Religious Affairs and other ministries responsible for education and research, she added.
The Minister also welcomes the plan of Ministry of Education and Culture to expand the use of the LPDP endowment fund to finance various programs that not only include traditional scholarships that have been awarded, namely regular scholarships, affirmative scholarships, and scholarships for the State Apparatus, the Indonesian National Defense Forces as well as the National Police personnel, but will also be extended to activities that can improve the quality of lecturers and teachers.
“I acknowledge that Ministry of Education and Culture will start expanding the use of the endowment fund for activities that include quality improvement of lecturers, teachers, and especially vocational high school teachers,” said Sri Mulyani.
Ministry of Finance will continue to support in terms of improvement of human resources and will also focus on maintaining governance and ensuring that these expenditures have the best impact for the public. (Ministry of Finance/AIT/UN) (EST/MMB)
