DPRD DKI Gives Scholarships to 23,000 Students
Wednesday, 05 March, 2008 | 18:42 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Mansur Syaerozi, Deputy Chairman of Commission E at the Jakarta Special Capital Territory (DKI) Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), has said that the commission has been working on providing scholarships each worth Rp3 million per year, or Rp250,000 per month, for helping poor students to continue their studies.

Syaerozi explained that the figure of IDR 250,000 per month was calculated based on the average school tuition fee (SPP) that has to be paid by one student in Jakarta.
The donation will not be transferred to students but directly to schools’ bank accounts.

“Students only need to give their signature”, said Syaerozi during a discussion about school fees at the Kartika Chandra Hotel on Wednesday (4/3).

He also explained that the scholarships would cover school tuition fees only, excluding books, uniforms, or transportation needed to get to school.

Responding to Tempo’s question on a possible excess in tuition fees, Syaerozi said that they will return the any excess to the regional government.

He added that the scholarship budget was taken from the 2008 Regional Budget (APBD) and totaled Rp69 billion, allocated as “free education” from the regional government.

Elga Ayudi