Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Bambang Soesatyo made the statement while receiving a visit from the Overseas Indonesian Students' Association Alliance (PPI Dunia) that handed over the academic text for the bill here on Saturday.
"The academic text for the protection of overseas Indonesian students bill from the PPI Dunia's board is very worthy of review and exploration," Soesatyo stated.
He cited PPI Dunia's data while saying that 50,889 Indonesian students were studying abroad as of April 2020, so the government's protection was deemed necessary to ensure their safety and comfort.
He detailed that the 50,899 Indonesian students comprised 20,917 students in the Americas-Europe region, 15,800 students in the Middle East-Africa region, and 14,172 students in the Asia-Oceania region.
Soesatyo pointed out that Indonesian students abroad were facing various problems that were significantly different from those faced by those in the country.
He pointed out that the students face fraud by international and national education agents, war and conflicts in destination countries, the pandemic, and problems with local educational institutions.
Hence, the Indonesian government's involvement, which will be regulated through the protection of overseas Indonesian students bill, is direly needed, he stressed.
"They (the state) will act as supervisors and regulators regarding the protection of Indonesian students abroad during preparation, departure, the studying period, and return," the MPR speaker explained.
On the same occasion, he said that the MPR along with PPI Dunia will hold an awareness-raising event on the Four Pillars of the MPR along with the 15th International Symposium of PPI Dunia.
The event is scheduled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in August 2023, and is expected to be attended by 300 Indonesian students representing 62 PPIs from across the globe.
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Translator: Tri A, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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