Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology stated that during the 2021-2023 period, at least 4,546 students received the International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) scholarship.

"Since its launch, IISMA has become one of the leading mobility scholarship programs that has (generated) very high (level of) public interest in Indonesia," IISMA Program Head Rachmat Sriwijaya noted in a ministry's statement here on Thursday.

The 4,546 students who received the IISMA scholarship comprised one thousand awardees in 2021, 1,562 recipients in 2022, and 1,985 in 2023.

Seeing the high level of enthusiasm among students with each passing year, the ministry has re-opened registration for the 2024 IISMA program. The registration will close on February 19, 2024.

The ministry also increased the quota for this year's IISMA for three thousand students. The increase in the recipient quota is expected to provide wider opportunities to students throughout Indonesia.

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Sriwijaya explained that the quota increase aims to support Indonesian students outside Java Island, considering the huge potential of intelligence and talents throughout the country.

"By increasing the quota of scholarship recipients, we want to create fair opportunities for students from all over Indonesia to access higher education and gain maximum achievement," he stated.

In addition to the regular scheme, the IISMA scholarship has the affirmation scheme, namely a full scholarship scheme for students from disadvantaged regions, recipients of the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP), or those who receive the Tuition Aid for Outstanding Poor Students (Bidikmisi) scholarship.

"If you fall into this affirmation group, we encourage you to join this program, so more affirmative students will join the IISMA program," Sriwijaya stated.

Meanwhile, IISMA is generally intended for bachelor's degree students, currently in semesters four to seven, who seek to hone their skills by joining student exchange abroad.

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Translator: Astrid H, Kenzu
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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