Bappenas Head Sends Off 145 Scholarship Recipients for 2026

Minister of National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (PPN/Bappenas) Rachmat Pambudy has sent off 145 scholarship recipients for the year 2026 as part of efforts to strengthen the capacity of national development planners within ministries, agencies, and regional governments. “We cannot detach ourselves from education and training. Why can nations and states advance, and why do many countries also experience decline? One of the reasons is the issue of education and human resource development,” he stated during the Ministerial Lecture for the 2026 Scholarship Recipients, according to an official statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday. He emphasised the need to strengthen the national development planning system through human resource development. As part of this commitment, the Centre for Human Resource Development, Education, and Training for Development Planning (Pusbindiklatren) of the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas conducted a scholarship selection process for participants from various ministries, agencies, and regional governments. The selection yielded 145 scholarship recipients, comprising 49 internal participants from the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas under the internal BEST scholarship, 35 participants under the Affirmation Scholarship, 52 participants under the Cost Sharing Scholarship, five participants through the Australia Awards, and two participants through scholarships at universities in Singapore. The send-off event served as a platform for briefing, orientation, and networking among the scholarship recipients and educational partners, whilst also strengthening the sense of belonging for all selected recipients. “The Ministry of PPN/Bappenas strives to be present in supporting the enhancement of human resource capacity through various appropriate education and training programmes. We are confident this is crucial for producing quality policies that can be implemented within society,” said Secretary of the Ministry of PPN/Principal Secretary of Bappenas Teni Widuriyanti. In carrying out its role of providing direction for short-, medium-, and long-term national development policies, she continued, Bappenas requires competent and adaptive development planners. Therefore, improving the quality of human resources is considered a strategic instrument to maintain policy quality, cross-sectoral planning integration, and the sustainability of the national development agenda. “The first gap is the gap caused by education. Education that changes knowledge, education that changes skills, education that changes attitudes. Ultimately, behaviour that bears fruit and succeeds is a tangible example of the results of our education,” said the Minister of PPN.