Disabled students get scholarships

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Mohammad Afdal, 21, adjusted his glasses several times as he squinted at the words written in bold across the white corkboard: "Rp 90 million in scholarships".

The money was to help finance his studies at the University of Indonesia (UI)'s School of Economics.

"This is good. I'm excited about this because at some point, I know that my studies will be sustained and guaranteed," he told The Jakarta Post after a ceremony to present the scholarship money on Monday.

Afdal, in his third year at the university, was among four UI students with physical disabilities who received a total of Rp 90 million (some US$10,000) in scholarships from the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. (HSBC).

HSBC calls them Diversity Scholarships in acknowledgement of the diversity that exists in society.

Afdal is totally blind in one eye and has impaired vision in the other.

"My father died some years ago and my mother works as a street vendor. I try to help pay my university fees by giving private lessons to people. This helps a lot since we don't get assistance from the university," he said.

The other three scholarship recipients are Arum Puspita, a history student in her fourth year, Erwin Febriansyah, a public health student in his first year, and Ahmad Fatulbari, a history student in his second year.

UI rector Usman Chatib Warsa said grades were not the main factor in determining the scholarship recipients, but rather the university looked at their physical disabilities and their financial need.

"The scholarships will be used mainly to cover tuition, books and some living expenses. They might also be used to cover research expenses for their theses," he said.

University of Indonesia is one of four state universities allowed to set its own entrance and tuition fees, in exchange for a cut in the government subsidy it receives. Students entering the university this academic year were charged an admission fee of between Rp 25 million and Rp 75 million.

HSBC's deputy chief executive officer for Indonesia, Mervyn Fong, said how the scholarships were used would be decided by the university, and expressed hope the bank would be able to provide more scholarships in the future.

"Education is very important and I think it's the only thing than can close the economic gap. Of course, we'll try to keep in contact with these students. We might even employ them when they graduate," he said.