“Scholarships really helped me during my time at university,” said Dzikri Robbi, a student of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).

After successfully securing several scholarships, Dzikri had found it easier to identify and apply for other scholarships and grant opportunities.  

Undergraduates of Gunadarma University get ready for commencement ceremonies, held at the Jakarta Convention Center in South Jakarta. Many students seek scholarships or grants to pay for their costly educations. JP/J. Adiguna

Dzikri was awarded a full scholarship for two semesters from Indonesia Power, and another semester scholarship from the Supersemar Foundation.

“There were so many links to scholarship opportunities at my school. Seniors normally inform juniors about available scholarship programs,” said Dzikri, a student of food technology.

In his eighth semester, Dzikri is now able to cover his living expenses from income generated in a business he owns and helps operate.

Unlike Dzikri, Rizal Lesmana of Pasundan University in Bandung said it was quite difficult for him to find scholarship offers at his school.

“There isn’t enough information,” he said.

Rizal had also tried unsuccessfully to pursue scholarships offered outside his university, he said

Djoko Santoso, the director general of higher education at the Education Ministry, said that while the government full-scholarship program “Bidik Misi” focuses largely on state universities, other opportunities exist for students enrolled in private universities.  

“Around 240,000 scholarships have been awarded this year to students at private universities. But private universities should also be able to independently solicit their own funds for their scholarship programs,” Santoso  said.

He added that some private universities had occasionally provided donations to state universities.

Starting this year, the Bidik Misi program provided a total of 20,000 scholarships to talented students from low-income families in diploma or undergraduate degree programs at state universities across Indonesia.  

Recipients are provided a monthly stipend of between Rp 500,000 and 700,000, and between Rp 800,000 to 2 million per semester to finance their education.

Bidik Misi is seen as a breakthrough in Indonesia’s education system, because previously the government scholarship programs were only available to students who had already attended university for several semesters.  

Previously the most common were the Students Learning Assistance program (BBM), the Academic Achievement Improvement program (PPA), and the Extracurricular Achievement Improvement program (PPE).

Ganjar Kurnia, rector of Padjadjaran University (Unpad), said his university had to provide a quota of 500 Bidik Misi scholarships (which have not yet been fully allocated and disbursed).  

So far around 320 students had qualified for the scholarship, Kunia said.

“It’s apparently not that easy to select qualified students. In order to fully utilize the 500 student quota we are now trying to handpick students while they are still in high school,” he said.

Kurnia said his staff planned to scout for academic talent at several areas, but would focus on West Java, particularly in coastal areas and tourist destinations.

IPB rector Herry Suhardiyanto said his university had unused scholarships under the Bidik Misi program, having only received applications for 90 percent of the total 500 places offered.

Suhardiyanto said the low number of students who took the admission test might have been one reason for the problem.  

Discovering potential students for the Bidik Misi program should be the responsibility of the universities, if their scholarship quotas were unfulfilled, Education Deputy Minister Fasli Jalal said.

“Many students are not aware of this opportunity. In addition, many promising students don’t make it through high school, and even if they do, their parents are usually worried about their ability to afford the academic expenses,” Jalal said.

What also needs to be taken into account is the criteria students need to satisfy to qualify for the Bidik Misi program, University of Indonesia rector Gumilar Rusliwa Soemantri said.

“Students whose parents work as lower-echelon civil servants are given priority,” Soemantri said.

“This is a classic problem. It’s not that easy to find exceptionally talented kids from financially challenged households,” he said.

Jalal said next year the government would promote the Bidik Misi program earlier, so that 12th graders could better prepare improving their individual academic competitiveness.  

However, universities also needed to work with educational institutions to improve Indonesia’s education standards, he added.

Both the Putera Sampoerna Foundation and Goodwill are among those involved in sponsoring and administering academic scholarships.

The Putera Sampoerna Foundation, for instance, has been working with the Bandung Institute of Technology in West Java, Airlangga University in Surabaya, Udayana University in Bali, and Haluoleo University in Southeast Sulawesi.

Foundation manager Nenny Soemawinata said this year the group had allocated Rp 1.7 billion to support undergraduate students, adding students studying applied sciences, economics and pedagogy had been prioritized.

Improving access to scholarship information is also one of the group’s most urgent priorities, in efforts to help talented students maximize their academic opportunities.  

“We’re working with schools, from elementary through to high school, as well as local education agencies, so that students in the regions know about our programs,” Soemawinata said.

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