The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) provides scholarships again for indigenous Papuan sons and daughters. This year, scholarships were awarded to 330 students from Papua and West Papua. This activity is a part of the Affirmation Scholarship Program of We Love Papua/Papua gets Proud in 2021.
A total of 280 students received scholarships to study at the State Christian Religious College (PTKKN). A total of 50 students received scholarships to study at public universities.
Deputy Minister of Religion (Wamenag), KH Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi said an effort to educate the life of nation continue to be carried out so that every child of the nation without exception gets the opportunity to receive a decent and quality education. This is because education for all is one of the important pillars in building Indonesian human resources as a whole.
The Deputy Minister of Religion said that the core of the We Love /Papua Gets Proud program is to promote education and religion in the provinces of Papua and West Papua in the form of scholarship support for the younger generation. So that they can receive continuous education at every level.
To Papuan and West Papuan students, the Deputy Minister of Religion advised not to stand idly by and actively participate in bringing about national change. As agents of change, students are required to take advantage of this scholarship opportunity as a way to build and to create.
“Be the creative, innovative, productive, and having character Christian students. Students who are able to produce creative works, think innovatively, are able to produce solutions, and have identity, have noble character, and have morals. Students whose daily life is full of honesty, integrity, full of respect, affection, hard work, and compassion and faithful in the practice of religious values,” he explained.
The Director General of Christian Guidance, Thomas Pentury, reported that this program has been running for two years. In the first period, namely the 2020/2021 Academic Year, scholarships were awarded to 253 students. They studied at IAKN Tarutung (10 students), Palangkaraya IAKN (33 students), Manado IAKN (65 students), Toraja IAKN (18 students), Kupang IAKN (40 students), Ambon IAKN (30 students), and STAKPN Sentani (57 students). ).
This year, scholarships were awarded to 280 people. They studied at IAKN Tarutung (20 people), Palangkaraya IAKN (25 people), Manado IAKN (55 people), Toraja IAKN (40 people), Kupang IAKN (60 people), Ambon IAKN (30 people), and at public universities. (50 people).
As for 50 students receiving the scholarships at Public Higher Education (PTU), they studied at Cenderawasih University (19 people), Indonesian Christian University Jakarta (4 people), Bandung Adventist University (4 people), Maranatha University Bandung (2 people), University of Pelita Harapan Karawaci Tangerang (2 people), Duta Wacana University Yogyakarta (3 people), Satya Wacana University Salatiga (10 people), Petra University Surabaya (3 people), and Indonesian Christian University Ambon (3 people).
“Thank you to the Ministry of Religion and related institutions that have helped the Papuan people a lot, especially in improving the education sector,” said Thomas.
Joining this event were a Director General of Christian Guidance Thomas Pentury, the Director of Christian Education, the Chancellors and Heads of the Bureau of the State Christian Religious Universities (PTKKN), as well as prospective students receiving the Kita Cinta Papua/Papua Proud affirmation scholarship in 2021.