Scholarship program has nothing to do with politics: Ministry

Jakarta, NU Online
The Education and Culture Ministry has rejected the Democratic Party’s claim that the launch of the Republic of Indonesia’s Presidential Scholarship (BPRI) program a week before the legislative election was a political move to gain votes. <>

The scholarship program was officially launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last Wednesday. Scholarships will be awarded to 100 Indonesian students who are accepted into masters’ or doctoral programs at 50 of the world’s leading higher education institutions. 

Last Thursday, the Democratic Party’s deputy chairman, Max Sopacua, claimed that the timing of the BPRI launch, the week before the legislative election, was a political strategy to boost the party’s popularity during the 2014 general election.

“I think every political party has its own strategy to win the election. So, why protest the launching of this scholarship program?” he said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Education and Culture Ministry spokesperson, Ibnu Hamad, dismissed the claim, however, saying that the development of the scholarship program had been under way since 2013. “The timing was pure coincidence; there was absolutely no political motive behind it,” he told The Jakarta Post.

He said a similar allegation was leveled against the ministry when it announced that it would finally pay public and private school teachers their 2010-2013 allowances between April 9 and 16. 

Ibnu said that many people speculated that it was a political move, as the first payments would be made on election day, but he claimed that, too, was coincidental.

AG Eka Wenats Wuryanta, a political communications expert, agreed that it was improbable that the BPRI was used by the Democratic Party as a political tool. He said the public should be reminded that although the President officially launched it, the Education and Culture Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry all worked together to develop the scholarship program.

“It is completely unethical for the Democratic Party to make such a claim and, in so doing, politicize a program that is intended to boost the number of Indonesians pursuing higher education,” he said. 

According to the education ministry, the gross participation rate (APK) of Indonesians aged 19 to 23 in higher education had risen in the past few years, from 21.8 percent in 2009 to 29.9 percent in 2013. 

Furthermore, Eka said he believed it would not have been an effective political tool because the scholarships were only launched a week before the election, too close to election day to have affected voters’ choices. 

During the Democratic Party’s campaign last Thursday, Max also asked other political parties not to criticize the move because the BPRI would benefit the public in the long run.

However, Golkar Party executive Indra Jaya Piliang said the claims were cause for further speculation because the scholarship program used money from state funds.

“We must question the legality of this scholarship program if the Democratic Party really does say that the timing of the launch was political. Their claims would not be a problem if they used their own funds to create the program,” he said.

According to the director of the Educational Fund Management Institution (LPDP) at the Finance Ministry, Eko Prasetyo, Rp 500 billion (US$43.8 million) had been set aside for two scholarship programs, including the BPRI. 

The scholarship fund was accumulated by saving around 20 percent of the National Education Development Fund (DPPN), which is funded by the state budget, between 2010 and 2013.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq