DPR asks the government to tighten the selection of viral LPDP alumni who are proud of foreign children
Member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Andi Muawiyah Ramly, asked the government and the Education Fund Management Agency (LPDP) to conduct a thorough evaluation and tighten the selection process for scholarship recipients, following a series of polemics involving alumni of LPDP recipients. Including the viral case of the recipient with the initials DS who openly expressed his pride in his son's citizenship in England.
He assessed that this issue is not just a personal issue or a social media upload, but touches on public morality because the LPDP scholarship is financed by public funds through the state budget and education endowment funds.
"LPDP is a mandate of the state. Every rupiah given is the people's money. Therefore, the recipient is not only required to be outstanding, but also has a clear commitment to national identity and a commitment to service," said Andi Muawiyah Ramly in a statement received, Monday, February 23.
According to the politician who is familiarly called Amure, the cases that have emerged recently must be a loud alarm. He emphasized that the state should not be complacent in ensuring that investment in education really returns for the progress of Indonesia.
"If there are scholarship recipients who emphasize the symbols of citizenship of other countries and seem proud of it, the public is naturally asking, where is the direction of loyalty and contribution? This is not about anti-global or limiting personal rights, but about ethics when someone receives public funds," he said.
Amure emphasized that the selection of the LPDP is not enough to judge the GPA, language score, or quality of the destination university. However, the aspects of track record, integrity, consistency of national attitude, and concrete contribution plans must be tested more deeply and measured.
He also encouraged the strengthening of post-study monitoring so that the commitment to service does not stop on paper. "Don't let the LPDP change its function into a path of accelerating personal mobility without real contribution. The state should not finance the potential of disguised brain drain. We want a clear brain gain that has an impact on Indonesia," said the PKB legislator.
Amure acknowledged that children's citizenship is a right regulated by law and is in the private sphere. However, he emphasized that LPDP recipients still carry an identity as a representation of the state.
"No one forbids someone from being a global citizen. But when it is funded by the state, there is an inherent moral responsibility. Don't let the public feel that education funds actually do not return benefits to the nation itself," he explained.
Amure hopes that this momentum will be a serious evaluation point for the LPDP to strengthen the selection system, strengthen the service contract. "And make sure that each recipient really has a commitment to building Indonesia," he concluded.