Papua Provincial Govt Urged to Allocate Endowment Fund for Education
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8 March 2021 06:06 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian finance ministry has urged the Papua provincial government to allocate an endowment fund to finance human resources development and education for native Papuans.
The fund could be allocated from Papua Province's annual budget, Director of the Finance Ministry's Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) Scholarship Program Dwi Larso said.
"To manage this endowment fund, the Finance Ministry's LPDP model can be adopted," he was quoted by ANTARA as saying on Sunday.
Dwi Larso recently spoke at a training on managing scholarship scheme, held for civil servants of Papua Province's Human Resources Development Agency in Jakarta.
The LPDP now manages an endowment fund, totaling Rp70 trillion, to finance scholarship awardees coming from various parts of Indonesia, he said.
The LPDP financed 28,000 scholarship recipients, and 13,000 of them had completed their higher education programs, Larso said.
The Papua provincial administration could adopt such a similar endowment fund for education as that of the LPDP to support its human resources development endeavors.
The funding resources could be the Papua provincial government's annual budget, special autonomy funds, or other resources, he said.
By having this endowment fund for education, the Papua provincial administration would more easily finance its human resources development, education, and research programs.
Scientists, funded by this endowment fund to conduct their research projects, would help the Papua provincial government manage the province's abundant natural resources.
The development of human resources in Papua and West Papua remains a tricky challenge as the Human Development Index scores of these provinces remains lower than that of other provinces in Indonesia.
Referring to Indonesia's 2019 Human Development Index, Papua and West Papua recorded scores of 64.7 and 60.84 respectively.
The two provinces are reeling from a shortage of teaching staff on account of the fact that native Papuans not just reside in coastal areas but also in remote mountainous and hilly areas.
In dealing with this challenging reality, Indonesian soldiers stationed there serve as voluntary teachers at schools.
Read: Lawyer Slams Arrest of 2 Papuan Students Alliance Activists
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