Kediri Regent Encourages Students to Focus on Learning and Achieve

Kediri Regent Hanindhito Himawan Pramana greeted new students of SMA Dharma Wanita 1 Pare Boarding School for the 2026/2027 academic year on Thursday, 23 July 2026. Mas Dhito, as he is affectionately known, opened the opportunity for students to ask questions, including about their interest in continuing their education to university.

Mas Dhito advised all students of the fourth cohort to focus on their studies and not waste the opportunity they have received. They are among 100 children successfully accepted from a total of 298 applicants.

Regarding questions about whether they would receive scholarships for university, Mas Dhito stated that scholarships are a matter of natural selection. He asked the students to focus on their learning for now. He said scholarships are opportunities that must be pursued earnestly and can be obtained from various sources, including the Kediri Regency Government, universities, or other institutions.

For those who excel and meet the requirements, a scholarship is guaranteed. Therefore, Mas Dhito stressed that students should be truly enthusiastic about learning so that when the time comes, they can be assured of entering university.

Mas Dhito acknowledged that he will continue to oversee the development of SMA Dharma Wanita 1 Pare Boarding School. He does not want the students to merely achieve, especially since the majority of the first cohort of 126 students successfully entered university.

He expressed hope that the second, third, and newly enrolled fourth cohorts can maintain or even surpass what the first cohort achieved. Mas Dhito stated that essentially all children have the same rights and opportunities to continue their education, even to university level. Through SMA Dharma Wanita 1 Pare Boarding School, he provides an opportunity for children from the lowest 40 percent of households, who previously had no hope of continuing their education, to study and stay in the dormitory for free.

This was experienced by Arfa, a child from Satak Village, Puncu District, who previously had no hope of continuing her education due to financial constraints. She had even worked as best she could by collecting firewood to sell. She said she actually wanted to go to school and did not want to work yet. After receiving information about the free school, she tried to register. Now, Arfa is grateful to be accepted as a new student in the fourth cohort of SMA Dharma Wanita 1 Pare Boarding School. Like her other friends, she dreams of being able to continue her education to university.