Ministry of Religion provides scholarships for 330 Papuan students

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Religion will provide scholarships for 330 Papuan students in 2021, as part of the affirmation of the Kita Cinta Papua/Papua Proud program.

“The Ministry of Religion is determined to build and realize a dignified and proud Papua through development in the fields of religion and education with the Kita Cinta Papua/Papua Proud program,” said Deputy Minister of Religion Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi in a written statement received in Jakarta, Thursday.

The scholarship program was awarded to 280 students studying at the State Christian Religious College (PTKKN) and 50 students at public universities.

Zainut said efforts to educate the nation’s life continue to be carried out so that every child of the nation without exception gets the opportunity to receive a decent and quality education.

Because, according to him, education for all circles is one of the important pillars in building Indonesian human resources as a whole.

“The core of the Kita Cinta Papua/Papua 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,” he said.

​The Deputy Minister of Religion advised Papuan students 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 create.

“Be Christian students who are creative, innovative, productive, and have character. Students who are able to produce creative works, think innovatively, are able to produce solutions, and have identity, have noble character, and have morals,” he said.

Meanwhile, Director General of Christian Guidance Thomas Pentury reported that this program has been running for two years. In the first period or 2020/2021 scholarships were awarded to 253 students.

This year, scholarships were awarded to 280 people. They are spread across various PTKKN, such as 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).

“Thank you to the Ministry of Religion and related institutions who have helped the Papuan people a lot, especially in improving the education sector,” said Thomas.

Previously, the government set a policy of accelerating welfare development in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua in accordance with Presidential Regulation Number 18 of 2020 concerning the 2020-2024 RPJMN and Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2020 concerning the Acceleration of Welfare Development in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Source: ANTARA News