T

he central government, through the Education and Culture Ministry, will speed up the establishment of the Sumatra Institute of Technology (Itera) in Lampung.

In the initial stage, the central government has earmarked Rp 40 billion (US$4.4 million) for the project, including educational facilities, while the Lampung provincial administration has provided the land in South Lampung and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in West Java has assisted in preparing the curriculum and teaching staff.

Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh reiterated on the acceleration of the project during the signing of the memorandum of understanding on the construction of Itera, which also marked the commencement of the project in Bandarlampung on Wednesday.

“The presence of Itera is expected to create many skilled human resources from Sumatra in the future. Prospective students from Sumatra do not necessarily come to Java to pursue higher education. For the time being, Itera students are registered as Lampung branch ITB students,” said Nuh.

Nuh added that the government planned to build technological institutes like ITB in three regions nationwide, including in Kalimantan and Sulawesi. “This is aimed at equally balancing the location of higher learning institutes, so they would not only be concentrated in Java,” said Nuh.

According to the plan, Itera’s campus will be located in Sidomulyo, South Lampung, and it began enrolling 100 fresh students in the 2012 academic year. At the time being they are attending studies at ITB while waiting for the project to be completed.

“In the upcoming academic year, Itera will also enroll 100 students. The entrance test will be carried out in two places — the ITB campus in Jatinangor, Sumedang, West Java, and the Keratun Center at the Lampung gubernatorial office in Bandarlampung. The test results can be accessed through Itera’s official website. The new students will still attend lectures at ITB,” said Itera establishment and planning team head Indratmo Sukarno.

According to Sukarna, Itera students will remain studying at the ITB campus in Jatinangor until the construction of the Itera campus in Lampung is completed in 2015. In the initial stage, added Sukarno, Itera will open five study programs, namely physics, electrical engineering, geometrical engineering, geophysical engineering and city planning.

“Students are required to stay at the lodging provided by ITB,” said Indratmo. The total education expenses at Itera amount to Rp 40 million annually, outside accommodation fees and daily living expenses.

Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. said native Lampung Itera students of impoverished families would be provided with subsidized funds to complete their studies.

According to Sjachroedin, 78 of the 100 Itera students from the class of 2012 hail from Lampung.

“After going through a process of selection, 40 of them turned out to be needy students. We will provide each of them Rp 50 million in scholarship funds, which are derived from the Lampung provincial budget,” said Sjachroedin.