Jakarta. The government announced Friday that it had made investments worth hundreds of millions of American dollars on its education endowment fund LPDP this year amidst plans of not requiring the scholarship awardees to come back to Indonesia.

LPDP has sent Indonesian youth on scholarship programs over the years as a means to develop the country’s human capital, and many of the awardees are studying abroad. LPDP is also in charge of funding research such as on technologies that can help Indonesia be able to feed its population without relying on imports. 

As of end-October, the government’s funding for the LPDP program has reached around Rp 15 trillion (approximately $962 million) so far in 2024, according to Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Djiwandono. LPDP has granted scholarships to 667,420 individuals by Oct. 20. This includes scholarships in partnership with the Education Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry.

“We already have 24,449 [LPDP] alumni [over the said period],” Thomas told the press in Jakarta.

About 66.6 percent of those alumni worked in the public sector. Almost 33.4 percent of the graduates work in the private sector. Since 2013, LPDP’s research funding has totaled Rp 2.9 trillion with the money going to 3,002 projects, government data showed.

The LPDP scheme has often come under the spotlight following reports of many of its beneficiaries refusing to return home even after having finished their studies. LPDP currently requires its scholarship awardees to be in Indonesia within 90 days after their graduation. They must then work in Indonesia for twice their study period and one additional year consecutively. 

The scholarship program recently made headlines after Higher Education Minister Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro said that the government would let LPDP graduates to stay overseas, citing that Indonesia still lacked the jobs that suit these well-educated individuals. However, graduates who are civil servants -- as well as police and military officers -- would still be contractually bound to head back to Indonesia.