Gorontalo, January 16, 2024 - In the scenic and marine-rich Tomini Gulf region, the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency (LPDP)  is reaching out to the brightest minds in Gorontalo who aspire to pursue higher education. The Opening Seminar for the 2024 LPDP Scholarship was held at Gorontalo State University, introducing students to fully-funded Master's and Ph.D. scholarships provided by the government.

LPDP continues to urge and encourage more scholarship recipients from regions outside Java. Historically, the majority of LPDP scholarship recipients have come from Java since the program's inception.

M. Lukmanul Hakim, Head of the Legal and Communication Division, expressed concern that the number of LPDP scholarship applicants from outside Java is still below expectations, despite various special programs with more accessible requirements.

Apart from the Regular Scholarship Program open to the public, there is an Affirmation Regional Scholarship Program for residents of designated Affirmation Areas. In Sulawesi, areas such as Donggala Regency, Sigi Regency, and Tojo Una-Una Regency are listed as Affirmation Areas. Applicants for the Affirmation Regional Scholarship enjoy eased requirements, such as a maximum age of 47 for master's and 50 for doctoral candidates, lower TOEFL ITP and GPA scores.

Additionally, recipients of the Affirmation Regional Scholarship receive special assistance, including a fully-funded Language Enrichment Program by LPDP to attain English language proficiency certificates meeting university requirements. For detailed requirements for the Affirmation Regional Scholarship, interested individuals can refer to the following link.

"This is LPDP's concern – how to disseminate information effectively to stimulate more applicants, with the hope of increasing the number of scholarship recipients. This way, education distribution and the overall quality of education will be more equitable across Indonesia," said M. Lukmanul Hakim at the Gorontalo State University's 4th-floor Rectorate Building on Tuesday (16/1) morning.

Meanwhile, LPDP Research Facilitation Director Wisnu Sardjono Soenarso, in his opening presentation, highlighted the low percentage of Indonesians completing master's and doctoral education. Currently, only 0.49 percent of Indonesia's productive-age population has completed S2 and S3 education.

"There are only 10,000 LPDP awardees at the moment. Our hope is that by 2045, the ideal number of S2 and S3 graduates nationally will be 20 million or 9.8 percent. LPDP won't cover all, but we aim for 30,000 LPDP awardees by 2045," explained Wisnu.

The online seminar on scholarships was attended by over 350 participants, while 200 attended in person. Participants hailed from various regions in Sulawesi, including North Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and Gorontalo.

To support the vision of Indonesia Emas 2045, one prerequisite is the development of a high-quality human resource. LPDP contributes to enhancing Indonesia's human resource quality through support for world-class education. 

LPDP offers all Indonesian youths the opportunity to develop their educational competencies through inclusive scholarships. The registration for the 1st Phase of the LPDP Scholarship opened on January 12, 2024, and the 2nd Phase will open on June 19, 2024. More information about the various scholarship programs and their requirements can be found on the official website lpdp.kemenkeu.go.id.

The seminars and socialization events for the opening of the 2024 LPDP Scholarship are also conducted online on the LPDP RI YouTube channel and in-person in various cities across Indonesia. In the early part of this year, LPDP held opening seminars in Palangka Raya, Batam, Kefamenanu, Manokwari, and Gorontalo. This series of seminars serves as an introduction to the various LPDP scholarship programs for the public throughout the year.