As Long As It Is Recovered To Positive Things, Temporary Budget Stopping For LPDP Scholarships Is Not A Problem

President Joko Widodo opened the LPDP Fest 2023 activity in Jakarta, Thursday (3/8/2023). (Between/Indra Arief Pribadi)

The discourse on temporarily stopping the budget allocation for scholarships for Education Fund Management Institutions (LPDP) has caused a stir. Eternal funds, which were initially allocated to LPDP, are expected to be diverted to focus on improving education, including research.

The idea of stopping the allocation of the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) for LPDP was first put forward by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (PMK) Muhadjir Effendy. This discourse was put forward as an answer to the low ratio of people with high education in Indonesia.

"Yesterday, we also reviewed what the LPDP should continue, with the current amount of almost Rp140 trillion. We will likely stop it first," said Muhadjir Effendy at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, quoting Antara.

The statement of the Minister of Education and Culture for the 2016-2019 period became a discussion on social media, until a narrative emerged that the LPDP scholarship program would be abolished. In the midst of the wild narrative of the termination of LPDP funds, member of Commission VII DPR RI Dyah Roro Esti straightened out the issues circulating in the community regarding the termination of APBN funds for LPDP. He ensured that only funds were stopped, and that did not mean that the program was stopped.

It should be understood that the termination in question was not related to the LPDP scholarship program. However, related to the budget that has accumulated so far, which is approximately Rp. 150 trillion and has not been used. So that the LPDP program can still run without the new budget allocation," Roro explained.

For information, the government has budgeted 20 percent of the APBN specifically for the education sector. In the 2023 State Budget, the education sector has allocated Rp612.2 trillion. For the LPDP program itself, Rp20 trillion has been allocated in 2023 and Rp25 trillion in 2024.

Muhadjir Effendy said that the APBN budget for LPDP could later be diverted to fix education, including research and allocation of higher education development.

The LPDP scholarship fund discourse was temporarily suspended starting from the XXIX Campus Convention and the Annual Meeting of the Indonesian Chancellor Forum in Surabaya, January 15, 2024. In the forum, President Jokowi highlighted the lack of research budget and the low ratio of population graduates of higher education in Indonesia. Jokowi also compared Indonesia's alignment with various countries, including Vietnam.

The idea of stopping APBN funds for LPDP has received criticism from public policy observer Trubus Rahardiansyah. The plan to shift the budget for LPDP to improve education, including research, is considered Trubus not on target. According to him, so far more research in Indonesia has not been utilized properly so that it cannot be enjoyed by the public.

"It should be taken from other sources, not from funds for LPDP because this is a long-term necessity. If you stop it, you will have the potential to apply the link," Trubus said when contacted by VOI.

"This is like throwing salt in the middle of the sea. Research should be used, if the research is not used, why is it being financed. LPDP funds are stopped because the reason is that they are diverted to research development, maybe this is just an excuse to become a new corruption land," he added.

Unlike Trubus, an education observer from Paramadina University, Totok Amin, said that as long as they have a good purpose, the termination of the budget for LPDP is not a problem. He asked the public not to rush to react negatively to the idea, because according to him, education development, including research, is also a priority.

"This means that the endowment fund is still there, only the addition is stopped. This is really a government discretion to allocate funds for more important things," said Totok during a conversation with VOI.

"For university research, it doesn't matter, so that the quality of the research is better, the number is more. So if the goal is good, that's okay," he continued.

Totok said that the temporary suspension of funds for LPDP scholarships must be accompanied by other efforts so that in the future the acceptance of LPDP scholarships will be better, including by nourishing the selection process for scholarship recipients so that the selection of selected fields is also better.

So, instead of pursuing large-scale quantities but the scholarships are not in accordance with the needs in Indonesia, it is not a problem that the additional funds are stopped. As long as the termination is not for consumptive things and for productive funds, it shouldn't be wrong, Totok emphasized.

LPDP was formed on December 28, 2011, under the Ministry of Finance. Until 2022 after more than 10 years of operation, LPDP has provided scholarships to nearly 30 thousand master and doctoral students from 34 provinces in Indonesia.

As many as 68 percent of students study domestically and 32 percent study abroad. From this program, LPDP has produced more than 15 thousand alumni who are now serving the country from Sabang to Merauke. As many as 61 percent of LPDP alumni work in the public sector and 33 percent work in the private sector and social work.