Introductory Remarks of the President of the Republic of Indonesia at a Limited Meeting on the Follow-Up of Endowment Fund for Education Program at the Bogor Presidential Office, West Java on Wednesday, 27 December 2017

Unofficial English Translation 

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

On this afternoon’s meeting, we will discuss the follow-up of endowment fund for education program. First of all, I want to stress that investment in human resource is very important to prepare Indonesia to become a competitive and developed country.

Indonesia’s endowment fund for education reaches Rp 31 trillion and will continue to increase in the upcoming years. This can be a means to improve the quality of Indonesia’s human resource today and in the future. Therefore, endowment fund for education must be managed more effectively, in more productive and measurable manners, and also bring concrete benefit for the quality improvement of our human resource.

It is started with selection process of the scholarship awardees that must represent pluralism in Indonesian society, and must select the best sons and daughters of Indonesia around the country. Furthermore, the study programs that the awardees will focus on should represent the Indonesia’s needs for today and the future. Do not send students abroad without careful consideration.

There must be a mapping about strategic fields that are undeveloped in Indonesia. We must be able to catch up on the strategic areas we want to develop in the future. Regarding the place to study, do not just centered on one certain country.

We consider the countries’ excellences to be studied by our young generation. I also ask that the endowment fund for education can be used to fund research that will drive the national competitiveness which is related to food, energy, and anticipating disruptive technologies, digital economic development and other productive researches. They are bound to one condition, do not pile up the results of the researches in the library.

Lastly, endowment fund for education should also impact our employment sector in which majority of the workforces are elementary school and junior high school graduates that need skills. Moreover, I want the fund to be calculated whether it can be granted to the workforces in order to improve their skills so they can be professional workers who are skillful. It can take form of scholarship program or vocational training program.

I think that is all I can say in this remarks. Thank you. I invite the Coordinating Minister and Minister to take the floor. (PR, Cabinet Secretariat) (RAS/AW/YM/Naster)