Jakarta, August 17, 2022 - In line with the 77th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia's Independence Day, Finance Minister of Indonesia, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, held a special dialogue meeting titled "Putra Putri Papua: It's Your Turn!" with LPDP scholarship recipients from Papua. The event, themed "Towards Indonesia's Collective Progress," was conducted in a hybrid format at the Djuanda Hall of the Ministry of Finance and moderated by LPDP's Chief Executive Officer, Andin Hadiyanto. Alumni, current scholarship recipients, as well as those who recently passed the selection and are prepared to continue their studies, attended this dialogue session.
In her opening remarks, LPDP's CEO, Andin Hadiyanto, emphasized the government's commitment to equitable human resource development in Papua through the LPDP Scholarship. The Affirmation Scholarship - Putra Putri Papua, launched from 2022, relaxes certain requirements, specifically eliminating language proficiency criteria that were previously a concern among Papua's society. As a result, in the first selection phase alone, the government successfully identified 100 of Papua's brightest young talents as LPDP scholarship recipients. These awardees will undergo language enrichment programs, non-language enrichment, and academic skill enhancement counseling before registering and departing for their higher education studies.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati commended the innovative initiative of the Affirmation Scholarship - Putra Putri Papua Program introduced by LPDP this year. This initiative underscores the government's commitment to achieving inclusivity in human resource development. The Minister also highlighted the anticipation within Papua's community for the contributions of scholarship recipients after their studies. The significant challenge expected to become a significant opportunity for service in various fields was highlighted.
The young scholars from Papua participating in this Dialogue Session also presented their ideas and suggestions for the future direction of human resource development in Papua, specifically concerning LPDP scholarship policies.
As per Presidential Regulation No. 63 of 2020 on Underdeveloped Regions for the period 2020–2024, there are still 62 underdeveloped districts, nearly half (30 districts) of which are in Papua. The commitment to even development and accelerating progress, one of which involves enhancing human resource quality through financing for LPDP advanced study scholarships, has been realized.
Since the inception of scholarship services in 2013, the affirmative regions like Papua and West Papua have received special consideration through various selection relaxation measures under the Affirmation Scholarship Program. In 2017, this program continued under the name of the East Indonesia Scholarship Program, targeting communities from NTT, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua Barat, and Papua. To further expand inclusivity, LPDP has relaxed the eligibility criteria extensively in the Putra Putri Papua Scholarship Program, specifically targeting Indigenous Papuans (OAP), those with indigenous Papuan family names or having a biological parent as OAP.
The Finance Minister hopes that LPDP scholarship recipients will utilize this opportunity with diligence and dedication to provide quality service to Indonesia through hard work and sincere learning.