The Ministry Of Industry Collaborates With BPDPKS To Open The 2023 Palm Oil HR Scholarship

Palm Oil Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) in collaboration with the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) participated as an education provider for the Palm Oil Plantation HR Development Scholarship, this year.

Head of the Industrial Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDMI) of the Ministry of Industry Masrokhan said the scholarship program was carried out to produce human resources in the palm oil processing industry, in addition to the establishment of a vocational education unit, such as the Industrial Chemical Technology Polytechnic (PTKI) Medan and the Polytechnic of the Industrial Technology Academy (ATI) Padang.

"In addition to opening student admissions through regular channels, the two Kemenperin campuses cooperate with the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) in participating as education providers for the Palm Oil Plantation Human Resource Development Scholarship," Masrokhan said in a written statement, Monday, May 22.

In response to the increasing consumption of domestic palm oil, which has continued to experience an upward trend over the past six years, the government assesses that efforts need to be made to increase national palm oil production, one of which is with the support of competent human resources (HR).

It is known, in 2017, national palm oil consumption had reached 11 million tons, then increased to 13.4 million tons in 2018, 16.7 million tons in 2019, 17.3 million tons in 2020, 18.4 million tons in 2021, to 20.9 million tons in 2022.

Meanwhile, palm oil production in February 2023 was 3,883,000 tons, with 369,000 tons of palm oil (PKO).

Masrokhan said the scholarship was targeted at garden owners who have a palm oil cultivation business and their families. Other registrant groups are employees or workers in oil palm plantation businesses, employees' families or workers in oil palm plantation businesses, ASN/PPPK in the field of kelapasawian, to cooperative members/managers or institutions engaged in bankruptcy.

"There are 13 educational units that received the scholarship and two of them are the Ministry of Industry's polytechnic, namely PTKI Medan and the AtI Padang Polytechnic," said Masrokhan.

For PTKI Medan, the majors opened for scholarships are D3 Chemical Engineering, D3 Mechanical Engineering, and D3 Agribusiness Kelapa Sawit. Meanwhile, AtI Padang Polytechnic opened five majors, including D3 Chemical Engineering Nabati Materials, D3 Logistics Management Agro Industry, D3 Agro Industrial Engineering, D3 Chemical Analysis, and D4 Renewable Energy Bioprocess Engineering Technology.

scholarship recipients will get various facilities, such as full education costs, boarding fees or boarding rooms, round-trip transportation to and from campus, pocket money, and book money. Scholarship recipients will also take part in internships at large plantation businesses and obtain competency certificates.

The schedule for the 2023 Palm Oil Scholarship will start from May to August, including registration from May 13 to June 19, selection tests from June 26 to July 18, and announcements from August 22.