Government to Fund Poor Students

Tempo Interactive, Wednesday, 08 December, 2010

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Djoko Santoso, director of Higher Education said the National Education Ministry will grant scholarships to students from low-income families. The Ministry has issued Government Regulation no. 66/2010 on Education Management and Organization, requiring state universities to allocate 20 percent of seats for students from the low-income group. The government, he said, will also fund their living costs and the tuition, Djoko said yesterday.

One of the universities already applying for this policy is the Tenth November Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya.

ITS Rector Priyo Suprobo said the cost of living will be borne by the campus, the foster parents, or sponsorship from various companies.

Meanwhile, the entire tuition will be borne by ITS.

Every month, ITS will disburse Rp500.000 per student. Meanwhile, the student will get at least Rp500.000 from the foster parent or a minimum of Rp750.000 from a sponsoring company. “Each student will get a cost of living assistance from a grantor,” Priyo said.

The cost of living, he said, varies from Rp150.000 to Rp2 million per month. The smallest amount is the Supersemar scholarship totaling Rp150.000 per month. ITS allows the grantee to receive other scholarships because Rp150.000 is not enough to cover their cost of living.

However, he said students who get a living cost from ITS, foster parent, or other scholarship whose amount is bigger than the Supersemar, will not be allowed to seek other forms of assistance.

According to Priyo, the scholarship will be annulled if the student’s score declines for two consecutive semesters. “Their score cannot be below 2,75,” he said.

Priyo did not mind the government’s policy requiring universities to allocate 20 percent of the seats for students from the low-income group.

CORNILA DESYANA

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