Public Education on Scholarship Controversy, IPB University Professor Emphasizes Ethics, Nationalism, and Human Resource Development Goals

Professor Hermanto Siregar of the Faculty of Economics and Management at IPB University responded to the controversy surrounding the Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) scholarship, which has been attracting public attention.

For him, this incident holds a number of important lessons for the public, especially the younger generation and scholarship recipients. He outlined four points of reflection that emphasize national awareness, social media ethics, and the strategic objectives of Indonesia’s human resource development.

First, Prof Hermanto assessed that the statement “it’s enough that I’m an Indonesian citizen” shows that the person has little awareness that the scholarship he received came from ‘public money’. 

“This lack of awareness leads to a lack of gratitude to the Indonesian state and nation, so that the desire to ‘repay’ the scholarship by working as hard as possible to develop Indonesia is very thin or perhaps non-existent,” he said.

Second, Prof Hermanto also observed ethical and normative issues among many (though not all) young people today. “Even if conditions in their hometowns are indeed poor, it is certainly unethical to expose these shortcomings on social media, which quickly spreads to audiences in neighboring countries and even further afield.” 

“The posts went viral because the ones pointing out the shortcomings were the very people who should be grateful to their home country,” he added.

Third, in substance, the LPDP scholarship is one of the government’s strategies aimed at developing high quality and competitive Indonesian human resources. 

Domestically, young people are given LPDP scholarships to study at nationally renowned universities with international reputations. Meanwhile, abroad, scholarship recipients are sent to study at renowned universities ranked among the top 100 in the world.

“With this experience, they are expected to become drivers or leaders of future development. This polemic reminds all parties of the noble goal of the government’s strategy to develop human resources,” said Prof Hermanto.

Finally, Prof Hermanto also reminded all social media users to be more careful before posting something to the public. “Before posting, think twice or three times about the possible consequences,” he said. (dr) (IAAS/KQA)