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undreds of Indonesian students studying overseas are facing economic hardship and are at risk of being dismissed from their universities as the Directorate General of Higher Education (Dikti) at the Education and Culture Ministry is months late in disbursing tuition fees and living stipends to students on government scholarships.

Gatot (not his real name), a PhD student in England, said that many of his fellow Dikti scholarship recipients took part-time jobs and borrowed money from their lecturers in order to cover living expenses and tuition fees.

'€œIf [we are] late in paying the tuition fees, we face sanctions as regulated by the respective universities. There are universities that impose fines for late payment and others that revoke internet privileges on campus and access to the library. One university has even threatened to revoke student-status and [the] visa,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Gatot said the late scholarship disbursements had been a recurring problem in past years, but the current delay was the longest yet. In May, Dikti mandated that scholarship recipients must fill out documents, including information about their university supervisors, to receive the stipends. The information is supposed to help Dikti collect reports regarding student progress.

Gatot claimed that a majority of students had fulfilled the requirement, but had still not received their living allowances. Dikti, on the other hand, has said that many students had failed to provide the required documents.

Currently, Dikti sponsors more than 1,000 graduate and postgraduate students both in Indonesia and overseas. The overseas students often feel the pinch the most as they face higher living costs.

'€œOur friends in Taiwan are facing a tuition deadline. In September, students in Australia must pay their tuition fees,'€ Gatot said.

Sinta (not her real name), a university student in Australia, said that many of her Indonesian peers and their spouses were forced to take part-time jobs in order to make ends meet.

'€œI am lucky that I have a chance to work as a tutor with a good hourly wage. I use my earnings to cover my dormitory costs,'€ she said on Tuesday.

Alan (not his real name), who brought his wife and child to Europe to be with him as he pursued his studies, said he was caught juggling his academic work with part-time employment.

'€œAt dawn, I work as a janitor. Another [Indonesian student] cleans a movie theater at night. We do this in order to survive,'€ he said.

According to Gatot, many students had already issued complaints with the education attachés at the Indonesian embassies in their respective countries. Recently, a Dikti scholarship recipient lodged a similar complaint on the website of the Presidential Working Unit for the Supervision and Management of Development (UKP4).

Many of the students are unwilling to openly discuss the issue, however, after Dikti recently revoked the scholarship of a student in response to frustrations he aired regarding the delayed disbursements on Facebook.

The ministry'€™s inspector general Haryono Umar, who is a former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) member, said that he would look into the matter.

'€œWe will seek information about that. This should not have happened,'€ he said to the Post.

Late Tuesday, Dikti announced that the office was in the process of disbursing the stipends for 660 students, but that they would continue to withhold disbursement for 412 others because they '€œhad not handed over the progress report'€.