Head of LPDP's Legal and Communications Division, Mohamad Lukmanul Hakim, stated on Saturday that the government is also focusing educational funding on eight priority sectors: food, energy, health, defense, maritime, downstream and industrialization, digitalization (including AI and semiconductors), and advanced materials and manufacturing.
"We hope this can be started next year. For this year's scholarship, the process is currently underway," he stated during a press conference at the 2025 KSTI event in Bandung, West Java.
He stressed that LPDP must prioritize certain areas to fulfill the needs of sectors requiring urgent acceleration.
According to Hakim, the security of scholarship funds remains assured, and they will be allocated for their designated purpose, despite adjustments to the number of recipients.
Addressing rumors of a reduction in the scholarship quota, he clarified that the funds remain intact and have not been diverted for other uses.
"Even if the funding is being reduced, the funds will remain in the LPDP account to finance the following year. We are ensuring the funds last through this year and will not cause difficulties in the following year," he confirmed.
Earlier, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani stated that the government, also represented by Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto and Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno, had discussed the selection of universities and majors for LPDP scholarship recipients.
"Minister Yuliarto and Minister Pratikno would determine the destination universities and fields of study,” she noted.
Mulyani remarked that her office will continue to facilitate the provision of LPDP scholarships, in line with the efforts to develop Indonesian human resources for achieving Golden Indonesia 2045.
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Translator: Sean Filo, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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