UNAIR NEWS – As one of the best universities in Indonesia, UNAIR continues to provide access to education for poor communities. One of the schemes is through Bidikmisi scholarship or, currently known as, Smart Indonesia Card (KIP).
It cannot be denied that despite their financial difficulties, KIP scholarship recipients are capable of great achievements. Some of them, at UNAIR, even have graduated as Outstanding Graduate or Best Graduate.
UNAIR Director of Academic Affairs, Prof. Dr. Sukardiman, Apt., MS, revealed that in March 2021 Graduation, there were three KIP recipients named Best Graduates. One of them was from the Faculty of Medicine, with a 3.94 GPA.
“About 20 percent of UNAIR students are KIP scholarship recipients. There are almost 5000 students recorded as KIP recipients,” he explained in a phone call on Friday, May 21, 2021.
Based on the Directorate of Academic Affairs’ data, the number of KIP recipients increases every year. In 2020, the students receiving KIP scholarship were 1,401 students. It is the highest since the government’s educational aid came into existence in 2014.
The good news, the increasing number of recipients is followed by increasing achievements. In 2020, there were 170 academic achievements made by 20 KIP recipients and 14 non-academic achievements from 7 KIP recipients.
The achievements were quite extensive. They were from various local, national, and international level competitions.
“The aid we provide include free tuition fee, Rp700.000 monthly allowance, and some assistance programs. For example, on tips and tricks of thesis writing, GPA-related mentoring, motivation, and ELPT cost support,” he said.
Although KIP recipients come from poor communities, they often have higher learning spirits. Thus, UNAIR makes sure the scholarships are received by the right people.
Director of Academic Affairs said that KIP scholarship recipients must be from low-income families with parents income below Rp4.000.000. And the recipients must have excellent academic potential.
“It must be monitored continuously, so it targets the right people. Regular monitoring and evaluation held every other semester must be improved,” he added.
UNAIR’s efforts to improve the welfare of community was ranked by Times Higher Education some time ago. In the ranking, UNAIR was ranked in the Top 100 for THE Impact 2021 for “No Poverty” goal.
“UNAIR has shown strong commitment in this matter, including providing equal opportunities for poor students to study in higher education,” said Prof. Sukardiman.
Prof Sukardiman hoped that KIP scholarships could be maintained. He also expected KIP recipients to have outstanding skills through the development programs. So, the efforts could improve the community’s welfare.
“We expect KIP recipients to have excellent academic achievements, especially through Program Merdeka Belajar. Thus, they have the decent skill to be good leaders, successful entrepreneurs that have great opportunity to contribute in the community,” he concluded. (*)
Author: Erika Eight Novanty
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
