Badung Allocates Rp 60 Billion for Scholarships, Free Tuition Capped at 8 Semesters
The Badung Regency Government (Pemkab) has officially commenced the distribution of the Nak Badung scholarship programme for the new 2026 academic year. The launch of this comprehensive education guarantee programme was marked by the signing of a cooperation agreement between the regional government and 28 related higher education institutions.
This strategic move involves allocating approximately Rp 40 billion to Rp 60 billion annually to fund higher education scholarships and senior high school or equivalent fees. This step represents a direct intervention to guarantee education for Badung residents, even though the management of upper secondary and higher education levels technically falls outside the authority of the Badung Regency’s Education, Youth, and Sports Office (Disdikpora).
“This is just for scholarships, and we are limiting it. If I am not mistaken, the quota is up to 450 students,” said Badung Regent I Wayan Adi Arnawa after opening the Badung Education Fair (BEF) 2026 and launching the Nak Badung Scholarship programme at the Giri Nata Mandala Cultural Centre, Puspem Badung, on Tuesday (9/6/2026).
The human resource investment programme, which begins in the new 2026 academic year, targets the general public, high-achieving students, underprivileged communities, farming communities, and the fulfilment of local wisdom. The scholarship distribution is classified into two main schemes: a motivational programme cluster for senior high school level and an affirmation programme cluster for undergraduate (S1) level.
“Hopefully, with the provision of these scholarships, the government will provide more access to the people of Badung based on principles of justice, where underprivileged communities will also be able to attend high school and continue on to higher education,” Adi stressed.
To ensure the success of this comprehensive education guarantee programme, the Badung Regency Government is strengthening cross-institutional synergy through formal legal commitments. At the opening of BEF 2026, the Badung Regent signed cooperation agreements with several universities and agreed on cooperation with the Bali Provincial Government as the authority holder for upper secondary education.
“Yes, we have already started accepting new students. Later, once students are accepted, they report to us. That is why we invited several universities, so that the universities can also report to us how many Badung children are indeed entitled to receive scholarships,” he explained.
The Badung Regency Government is also imposing a limit on the duration of study and strict supervision of the academic performance of aid recipients to maintain the accountability of the higher education affirmation programme. Students receiving guarantee funds are limited to a maximum of 8 semesters or 4 years of study, but they are promised an additional incentive in the form of graduation fee assistance later on.
“There is a limit, up to 8 semesters. If these students can fulfil it within a maximum of 8 semesters or perhaps 7 semesters, they are entitled to get this and will also receive additional graduation assistance later. But if they exceed that, they will not receive it anymore. The aim here is motivation, to encourage speed and ensure they do not take their studies lightly,” Adi Arnawa asserted.
Regarding the detailed coverage of the guarantee’s financing components, each beneficiary from each education level will receive a different amount of financial assistance tailored to operational educational needs. The Badung Regency Government fully covers the education development contribution fees (SPP) and uniforms for high school students, while undergraduate students receive coverage for single tuition fees (UKT), monthly living costs, learning infrastructure, and laptop procurement facilities according to regional price standards.
“This depends, of course. What is clear is that we provide the standard for single tuition fees, the SPP, including for high school students we provide their uniforms, and several other facilities as well. Meanwhile, for the affirmation programme for higher education, we provide the UKT, SPP, also including living costs, infrastructure, and also a laptop,” Adi Arnawa detailed.
Adi Arnawa also instructed the regional secretariat ranks to formulate a policy formulation for education guarantees for children with disabilities from elementary school to higher education levels. The scholarship is provided cumulatively alongside existing cash social assistance programmes.
“Including earlier, I also responded directly. I ordered the Regional Secretary to also think about Badung children with special needs, to also be given scholarships from their school levels. Whether that is indeed for high school, including possibly if there are those going on to higher education, we will facilitate them, in addition to the disability assistance programme we already provide at Rp 1 million per month,” said the PDIP politician.
The screening process for all scholarship recipient candidates is confirmed to go through a multi-layered document administration mechanism to anticipate errors in the distribution of guarantees in the field. A special verification team formed by the regional government is scheduled to go directly into the field to ensure the validity of applicants’ economic profiles, particularly in proving the validity of active productive land ownership for applicants from the farmers’ children cluster.
“It is these verifiers who will conduct verification in the field, to check whether the person concerned is truly eligible. What is clear is that the criteria include: first, indeed underprivileged communities; second, farming communities. The purpose of this scholarship for farming communities is to give appreciation to farming communities so that Badung’s farmers focus on producing food,” Adi Arnawa concluded.