South Sulawesi to provide scholarships for 67,756 disadvantaged students

Makassar, NU Online
South Sulawesi provincial administration will provide scholarships for 67,756 poor students as part of its free education program for all students from elementary, junior high and high schools.

The main aim of the scholarship is to enable the students to pay for transportation, uniforms and books.<>

The head of the provincial education office, Patabai Pabokori, said recently that the scholarships, amounting to a total of Rp 29.72 billion (US$3.3 million) for the current school year, would be funded jointly by the administration and the National Education Ministry.

"The funds for the scholarship will be taken from the local and national budgets," Patabai said.

The scholarships will be disbursed four times a year, starting in August or September.

He said the administration would distribute Rp 360,000 for each elementary school student, Rp 500,000 for junior high students and Rp 780,000 for high school students.

According to data from the South Sulawesi Education Office, 31,967 elementary school students, 25,235 junior high school students and 10,554 high students will receive a scholarship. They were categorized as poor students by the school's principals and the village heads.

Patabai said the free education was applied across the province from the beginning of the 2008/2009 school year.

Patabai said that the South Sulawesi's free education and scholarship programs are pilot projects.

"The government will make the projects into national programs if they are successful," he said.

He said the administration realized that free education alone was not enough to improve the quality of education in the province. The students here still need financial assistance to meet their educational necessities.

"We hope that by providing them with scholarships, they can improve their quality of education and achieve their dreams. We also hope that the province will have a well-qualified younger generation for a better future," Patabai said.

Darwisah, whose child attends SMP 37 Makassar junior high school, said that even though she no longer paid the tuition fee, she still had to set aside a big sum of money for other costs.

"Even though the administration has provided free education, we still have to spend a lot of money for transportation and to buy schooling needs, such as uniforms, schools and books," Darwisah said, adding she had to pay Rp 250,000 for two sets of uniforms and a set of sports clothes. (jp/dar)