Jakarta, Indonesia – This year, the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Directorate General of Hindu Community Guidance awarded scholarships to 1,540 Hindu students from various universities.
This year, nine types of scholarships have been made available to undergraduate, master’s, and doctorate students, according to Komang Sri Marheni, the ministry’s acting director general of Hindu community guidance, in a written statement received here on Wednesday.
Hindu teachers and lecturers are also targeted by the scholarship program. Marheni hopes that the scholarships will improve the quality of Hindu religious education in Indonesia.
“There are special scholarships for Hindu teachers and lecturers because many of our teachers need to upgrade their qualifications so that the quality of Hindu education will become better,” she said.
The scholarships are intended to assist in addressing the critical shortage of Hindu religious teachers that the Hindu community is currently confronting, according to Marheni.
“We hope that the scholarship (program) recipients will be able to return to regions to teach Hinduism, particularly in areas where there is a shortage of Hindu religious instructors,” she said.
The undergraduate scholarship is distributed through Hindu universities under the supervision of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Meanwhile, master’s and doctorate scholarships are available through the Directorate General of Hindu Community Guidance.
Academic achievement scholarships at private Hindu universities, Bidik Misi (Targeted Mission) scholarships at private Hindu universities, master’s scholarships for prospective lecturers, and master’s scholarships for undergraduate students graduating with honors from Hindu universities are among the nine types of scholarships available.
They also include doctoral scholarships for lecturers, undergraduate scholarships for non-state servant Hindu religious instructors, postgraduate scholarships for non-state servant Hindu religious teachers, and master’s scholarships from utama widya pasraman (Hindu education unit).
Source: Antara