This is not an easy idea and not merely about money."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The governments scholarships for students awarded through the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) is an investment in human resources, according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

"Education is a solution to improving the peoples quality of life. This is not an easy idea and not merely about money," Indrawati stated at the opening of the LPDP Edufair 2017 here, Tuesday.

The minister said the government has given an opportunity to undergraduate students to pursue higher education by granting scholarships.

"We are investing in the Indonesian youth who have ideas, dreams, idealism, and ambition to make a better Indonesia," Indrawati emphasized.

However, the minister called on the awardees to seize the opportunity, as the money they received for the scholarship was sourced from the taxes collected by the government.

"It came from people who pay taxes, and it is not easy for us to collect them," she affirmed.

The minister has called on the LPDP management to improve its efficiency, so that the funds they spend could offer maximum impact for improving the quality of living of Indonesians.

The LPDP is an Agency for General Services under the Finance Ministry, which manages an education fund scheme to financially support Indonesian students to receive higher education.

Currently, the LPDP has managed Rp22.5 trillion worth of funds and has granted scholarships to 16,293 students to study both in Indonesia and overseas.

Of the total scholarships, 10,406 students are still continuing their studies, mostly for masters and doctorate degrees.

As many as 1,999 awardees studied in the engineering field; 1,711 in science; 1,354 awardees in education; 1,070 in medical and health science; 935 awardees in social science; 675 in economy; 481 in the law field; and 480 awardees in arts, culture, and language.

The number of awardees who have studied in Indonesia reached 5,575 students; 1,679 in England; 798 in the Netherlands; 684 in Australia; 338 in the US; 329 in Japan; 123 in Germany; 117 in Russia; 89 in Sweden; and 81 awardees in France.

(Reported by Satyagraha/Uu.S022/INE/KR-BSR/B003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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