JAYAPURA - Acting Assistant Secretary of Papua for Government Affairs, Yohanis Walilo, confirmed that the scholarship fee arrears of 16 students abroad have been settled.
The payment of arrears for students of the Papua Superior Scholarship (SUP) program is not only in the period July-December 2023 but until the 2024 school year.
"Because they (16 students) will graduate in May 2024. We have finished until May 2024 so they will not go home, they have returned to campus," said Walilo in Jayapura City, on Tuesday (1/30/2024).
Meanwhile, the remaining SUP arrears for the July-December 2023 period will be paid next Wednesday. Payment of these arrears will be made in stages.
"The budget is already in place, but we are finalizing it gradually. Because payments to campuses abroad take time, if domestically it is fast," he said.
He added that for 2024, payments are made based on the policy of the Acting Governor of Papua. Even though the overall scholarship financing for the SUP 2024 program has not been discussed.
"If we don't pay, they can be repatriated, even though there has been no talk about funding for the 2024 scholarship. The BUP program in 2024 and the following years will be facilitated again by the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding financing."
"The payment for the settlement of 2023 scholarship arrears will use the Papua Provincial Government's budget first. Meanwhile, budget support from the district/city government will be billed later," he said. ***