Jakarta. Poland is seeking to attract more Indonesian students to boost bilateral relationships while offering a cultural exchange, according to Polish Ambassador to Indonesia Beata Stoczyńska.

With the appeal for international travel reviving after strict quarantine measures around the world continue to fade away, universities and governments abroad are again promoting foreign students to study at their institutions.

Stoczyńska recently told the Jakarta Globe that Poland is eager to welcome students from Indonesia as Polish schools offer “high-quality studies” that are “relatively less expensive” compared to institutions found in other countries.

“We have very high-quality technical studies in medicine, mining, IT, and agriculture in English but we also offer language classes before you start if you want to study in Poland,” she said.

“We also offer scholarships such as the Banach Scholarship program for developing countries such as Indonesia which has gained a lot of interest.”

In 2022, 300 students from 29 countries received the Stefan Banach scholarship, which focuses on second-degree studies in technology and sciences. Around 30 of these awardees were Indonesian, according to Stoczyńska.

Currently, Poland has over 500 Indonesian students currently studying at its institutions, and the ambassador wishes to see that number grow further in the coming years.

“I travel a lot around Indonesia and in every province I go to, I have meetings with students where we explain the conditions to study in Poland, as well as promote Polish language courses provided by Polish teachers,” she told the Globe.

It’s More than Just Education

Although there is a strong economic incentive to have more Indonesian students study in Poland, the push also coincides with efforts from both countries to improve bilateral relations and promote each other’s cultures.

“Culture is always bringing people together,” Stoczyńska said.

“If people know more about each other, they become interested in their country and they will want to go there. So it’s up to us to have a cultural exchange where cooperation is very important,” she added.

One initiative to promote the country’s culture in Indonesia has been the yearly Poland Festival, held by the Polish Trade and Investment Agency alongside the Polish Embassy.

In 2022, the month-long festival took place in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Denpasar, promoting Polish culture, language, and food. The event organizers are hopeful to expand it further to more cities this year.

In addition to the festival, the Polish embassy is working on promoting Polish films, music, and literature to Indonesian audiences.

“Last year, we translated ‘Star Diaries’ by Stanisław Lem into Bahasa Indonesia and it was a big success,” she said.

The Indonesian embassy in Warsaw has made similar efforts to promote Indonesian culture to Polish people. The embassy recently hosted an Indonesian festival on top of promoting the idea of studying in Indonesia to Polish students.

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