ADS brings RI closer to Australia

ADS brings RI closer to Australia

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Providing scholarships to Indonesians does not only help the
awardees, Australia believes, but also brings the two countries
closer to understanding their differences and similarities.

"Australia and Indonesia are bound by our proximity and it is
important that both countries have much more experience of each
other," Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) program leader
David Spiller said. "And anything that can bring the countries
closer is important."

Each year, the Australian government sponsors people from a
number of developing countries, including Indonesia, to study in
Australia through the program.

In Indonesia, the ADS program has two categories, namely the
public sector -- which accommodates employees from government
departments, state universities and state enterprises -- and the
open sector for individuals.

With an annual funding of A$35 million (Rp 277.4 billion), or
25 percent of AusAID funding for Indonesia, the program offers
270 scholarships for master degrees and 30 for PhD levels.

"It is basically a program focused on strengthening
institutional capacity," he added. "In addition to that, I think
these kinds of programs strengthen the relationship between our
countries.

"We receive between 3,500 to 4,500 applications a year," said
Spiller. "The only time when the number significantly dropped was
in 1999 when the East Timor issue arose.

"We are trying to balance the ratio between men and women, as
well as having a good spread across Indonesia," he said.

Spiller pointed out that fewer applications came from eastern
Indonesia and "to extend that we try to have a targeted category
for people who work in sectors associated with AusAID projects in
the area".

Since the tsunami, his has office introduced the new
Australian Partnership Scholarship program for 300 additional
scholarships for candidates from all over Indonesia.

"We are looking for people who have a clear idea on what they
want to achieve and how that will benefit them as well as the
country at large," he said.

Areas of study are in economic management, democratic
institutions and practice, basic social services and security and
stability.

The example fields of study are agribusiness, agriculture,
computer science and information technology, conflict resolution,
decentralization, development studies and others related to the
above areas.

ADS works with 18 Australian state universities, including
the Australian National University in Canberra, the University of
Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the University of
Melbourne and Monash University in Clayton, Victoria.

Interested parties should apply by Sept. 9. (003)