Australian scholarships for Indonesia to continue

Australian scholarships for Indonesia to continue

JAKARTA (JP): Despite the turbulence in its relations with
Indonesia, Australia is maintaining its cooperation in the
educational field with its Asian neighbor.

Australian ambassador to Indonesia John McCarthy on Monday
launched the Australian Government Scholarship Program for 300
Indonesian students for next year.

Under the grant program, each student receives A$ 25,000,000
per year to undertake postgraduate studies at Australian
universities.

According to the ambassador, the fund is offered for the study
of economic governance, political and social development,
agriculture, health, natural resources management,
science and engineering.

"We maintained our development assistance programs throughout
the recent difficulties between the two countries. And, the
scholarship program is the most important element of that,"
McCarthy commented.

The ambassador was speaking at the opening of a two-day
conference here entitled " New Indonesian Challenges and The ADS
(Australian Development Scholarship) Scheme".

McCarthy said he believed the scholarship program will develop
personal and institutional links between Australia and Indonesia
that will sustain and nourish the relationship between these
countries into the future.

There are currently over 900 Indonesians studying in Australia
under Australian government scholarships. They are part of a
total of 18,000 Indonesians studying in Australia this year.

Since the scholarship program commenced in the 1950s, the
Australian government has sponsored the studies of over 7,500
Indonesians in Australia.

The conference is being held to help the Australian and
Indonesian governments review progress and identify the problems
involved in the program.

Dozens of participants were in attendance, including Bandung
Institute of Technology (ITB) rector Lilik Hendrajaya, Secretary-
general of the Ministry of National Education Hidayat Syarief and
scholar Mochtar Buchori.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the
conference, the ambassador reiterated that Australia fully
recognizes Indonesia's territorial integrity, including Irian
Jaya.

"We have repeatedly said that we respect the territorial
integrity of Indonesia," McCarthy told reporters. (zen)