YOGYAKARTA – In order to manage Bidikmisi scholarship funds effectively, Universitas Gadjah Mada will distribute the funds monthly in spite of the fact that the Higher Learning Directorate General disburse them cumulatively every 6 months. According to UGM Executive Secretary, Gugup Kismono, this was done as such for the funds to be used effectively for education purposes. “Our mission is to prevent students from running out of funds when important educational expenses emerges, so their learning process is not disrupted,” Gugup said in a release on Wednesday (8/5).
Gugup said the reason for UGM to distribute the Bidikmisi scholarship every month is to make the funds well managed with the final target of the educational success of the scholarship recipients. Gugup expected the recipients to really use the funds for their education. If not, not only the students who are disadvantaged but also government following the bigger possibility of student’s failure in pursuing their education. “Society can also be at a loss because the students who have high potential to contribute to nation’s progress fail in improving their education quality.
Gugup added that the living allowance as much as Rp600 thousands per month is expected to assist students in order that they would be more focused in their learning process. Currently, Bidik Misi recipients at UGM are 3000 students (500 in 2010, 1450 in 2011, and 1102 in 2012). They are freed from paying tuitions. Annually, UGM manages almost Rp66 billions from various sources for 11,700 students. This allows opportunities for Bidikmisi recipients to compete to get other schoalrships, too. “Recipients of Bidikmisi who are excellent academically are allowed to compete to get scholarships from other sources,” Gugup concluded.