UK to Offer More Chevening Scholarships for Indonesians
Jakarta. The United Kingdom has proven itself to be a good partner to Indonesia over the years, especially in the educational sector.
This year, the UK government has decided to offer more Chevening scholarships for Indonesians.
"We are committed to support Indonesia’s development. Indonesia has a huge potential, but it still requires investments in its human resources," British Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik said in his speech at the Annual Chevening Alumni Gathering reception in Jakarta's Le Meridien Hotel on Thursday (09/02).
Chevening is the UK's global scholarship program which has been running for thirty years.
The program offers scholarships to study for a Master's degree in the UK, and specifically targets potential leaders and decision and opinion makers.
There are currently 46,000 Chevening alumni around the world, around 1,400 of those in Indonesia.
Many Chevening awardees from Indonesia choose to study social sciences in the UK, though the ambassador added the program will try to help President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo realize his dream of reviving Indonesia's maritime industry.
"This is one of the Indonesian government's priority programs. We will help by offering scholarships in maritime studies," Malik said.
In 2016, Chevening awarded nearly seventy scholarships to Indonesians. This year, the program has received a record more than 3,200 applicants and eventually hopes to award more than 83 scholarships to students from Indonesia and East Timor.
The embassy will be hosting an educational festival featuring more than 60 universities in the UK in March. Some of the universities involved have already created partnerships with Indonesian universities.
The ambassador said the UK has also assisted the Indonesian Endowment for Education (LPDP), the Ministry of Religious Affairs and a string of local universities including the University of Indonesia (UI) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
Malik added he hopes to work on new partnerships which focus on teaching English to Indonesians, saying it is "key to Indonesia’s competitive economy in the future."
"In today’s world, all international issues require cooperation. There isn’t a single country that is rich enough or strong enough to deal with problems on their own. So to accommodate and ensure partnerships as well as friendships is a form of investment," Malik said.
"[It’s about] creating chemistry and relationship that will help both countries in the future," he added.
Tags: Keywords: