Govt to be paid Rp 1t to help lecturers study abroad

The Ministry of National Education has allocated Rp 1 trillion US$109.9 million in scholarships for lecturers and teachers who wish to study overseas, particularly in France.Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said Saturday the ministry had built cooperation with a number of French universities to improve the quality of Indonesian lecturers and teachers

The government has earmarked Rp 1 trillion for teachers and lecturers who wish to study overseas, especially if they want to pursue doctorate degrees, said Nuh, who obtained his masters and doctorate degrees from Universite Science et Technique du Languedoc USTL Montpellier in France.He estimated a student who studied overseas would spend up to $30,000 on tuition fee and living cost a year.Thanks to our cooperation with some French universities, we can allocate the money for two persons, he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The ministry data reveals that the country has 270,000 lecturers, but only 23,000 or less than 10 percent of them hold doctorate degrees. Nuh said the government expected to increase the number of lecturers with doctorate titles by 25,000 in the next four years.He admitted, however, English proficiency remained a major problem for Indonesian lecturers to study overseas.