Govt Provides Scholarships for 302,764 Students
Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education M. Nasir answers questions from journalists after attending 4-year Report of Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla Administration in Jakarta, Tuesday (23/10). Photo by: Rahmat, Public Relations Division of Cabinet Secretariat.
As of August 2018, the Indonesian Government has provided scholarship for 302,764 students, an increase from that of 2014 when Government provided scholarship for 196,408 students, according to Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education M. Nasir.
“The data is taken from the third quarter of 2018. In the fourth quarter, 368,961 scholarships will be provided,” the Minister said in his 4-year Report of Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla Administration in Jakarta, Tuesday (23/10).
Nasir added that some of the students who receive the scholarship have got good jobs, some of whom work at state-owned electricity company PT PLN, and some others become lecturers, researchers, and surveyors. The Minister added that he will continue to expand the access to students from lower-income families in Indonesia to make sure that they have access to higher education.
“The students from low-income families should be able to have access to public universities,” M. Nasir said, adding that 82.83% of the students who receive the Government scholarship in public universities achieve GPA above 3.00.
“Many of them become teachers or entrepreneurs, work in State-Owned Enterprises or private sectors, or continue their study” Nasir added.
Regarding the affirmation scholarships for students in Papua, West Papua and border areas, Nasir said that Government has provided 4,715 scholarships in third quarter of 2018 and 5,743 scholarships in fourth quarter, adding that 31% of the Papuan students who got scholarship achieve GPA above 3.00
In the meantime, Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education have collaborated with Ministry of Agriculture in conducting research. “The result of the research shows that (the rice field) can produce 7 tons to 11.2 tons dry grain per hectare.
Nasir went on to say that the Ministry has also conducted research in pharmaceutical salt. In 2015 Indonesia imported 100% of the pharmaceutical salt and today 35% of the salt can be produced domestically with a salt content of 99.5%. The price of regular salt is Rp.700 – Rp.1,000 per kg while the price of pharmaceutical salt is Rp.15,000 – Rp.17,000 per kg, he added. (MAY/RAH/ES)
Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Edited by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas
