Home Affairs Minister Praises Top IPDN Graduates from Humble Backgrounds

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Muhammad Tito Karnavian has praised the ten best prospective graduates of the Institute of Internal Governance (IPDN) Class XXXIII, who come from a wide range of backgrounds. According to him, this shows that the recruitment and learning processes at IPDN are working well. The prospective graduates achieved their success through ability and hard work, not economic privilege.

“That is what makes me proud — it means the recruitment process at the outset was correct, and the learning process here was also correct. Because they are not from what you might call well-off families, yet they made the top ten out of 1,204 who will, God willing, be graduated and inaugurated,” he said at the Balairung Rudini Building of IPDN Jatinangor, West Java, on Wednesday (22/7/2026).

Whilst giving guidance during the send-off for the Praja Utama Class XXXIII of 2026, who will shortly graduate, the Home Affairs Minister called the ten best prospective graduates onto the stage to ask them directly about their backgrounds. They come from a variety of family backgrounds, including children of farmers, traders, teachers, entrepreneurs, and members of the military and police.

“They come from ordinary family backgrounds. The top student’s parents are, in fact, just a construction labourer from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Then there is another whose parents just run a small stall. There are children of military and police personnel, but of non-commissioned rank,” he said.

One who caught the Minister’s attention was the top-ranked graduate and recipient of the Kartika Astha Brata award, a prestigious annual prize given to the best-performing graduate of IPDN. This year, the award went to Aji Bayu Ramadhan, a student who registered from East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT).

Aji recorded a cumulative achievement index (IPK) of 3.84, the highest among the Class XXXIII prospective graduates. He studied on the Government Information Engineering Technology programme at the Faculty of Governance Management.

In a dialogue with the Minister, Aji, who is from NTT, explained that his father works as a labourer whilst his mother is a housewife. The Minister judged that family background is no barrier to achieving the highest honours.

Tito then shared his own experience as inspiration for the prospective graduates. He recounted that he too came from a humble family, but that did not stop him from striving until he became the best graduate of the Police Academy (Akpol) Class of 1987.

Furthermore, the Minister explained that there were three turning points that changed the course of his life. First, when he was accepted at the Police Academy. Second, when he received a Chevening Scholarship to pursue a Master of Arts in Police Studies in England at the age of 26, which broadened his horizons from the national to the global level. Third, when he completed his doctorate (PhD) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

According to the Minister, education not only increases knowledge but also develops critical thinking, changes one’s mindset, and expands networks.

“The point I want to convey is that education opens up scientific insight and scientific ways of thinking, so that problem-solving is always based on theory, data, and references,” he concluded.