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AKARTA: Winners of international science competitions expressed disappointment at the government for its failure to fulfill its promises of providing them with university scholarships.

Stephan Haniel, a winner of the bronze medal at the international Chemistry Olympiad, said that he had not been able to pursue his studies at state university in Indonesia despite the government’s pledge of giving scholarships to students who won medals in international competitions.

Alimatun Nashira, or Ira, the winner of the 43th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), also asked the National Education Ministry to fulfil the promise it made last year, when she clinched the silver medal at the 42th IChO in Japan.

“Gold medalists are promised scholarships through post-graduate studies, silver medalists through graduate studies and bronze medalists through undergraduate scholarships,” Ira said on Thursday at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport when she arrived from Turkey from the Olympiad.

Ira said she had received a scholarship offer from the National University of Singapore but she had refused it and instead enrolled in the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). She said her parents had paid Rp 55 million to get her into ITB. The government did not give her any assistance, she said.