LPDP Director General Reveals Strategy to Help Alumni Secure Employment

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Director General of the Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) Sudarto said that his institution is working to improve its strategies so that alumni can be absorbed by the workforce after completing their studies.

One of the efforts is to focus on impact rather than just being an education service.

“We understand that for one person to become a superior human resource, it is not enough to study at the best university. What is more important is what happens after that,” said Sudarto in a media briefing at the Ministry of Finance office, Jakarta, Wednesday (February 25) evening.

According to him, LPDP is trying to align scholarship priorities with industry and research needs, which are adjusted based on discussions with industry.

Therefore, from 2021 to 2026, the scholarship program will be more targeted towards strategic fields.

These strategic fields include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), the food and maritime industry, energy, health, defense, digitalization (including artificial intelligence and semiconductors) as well as downstream industries, manufacturing, advanced materials, entrepreneurship, and the creative industry.

For 2026, the STEM and related scholarship quota will reach 80 percent. Meanwhile, the quota for non-STEM or SHARE (social sciences, humanities, arts and culture, religion, and economics) scholarships is a maximum of 20 percent.

However, Sudarto said that LPDP cannot guarantee jobs for its alumni.

The capacity of LPDP, he said, is limited to building and strengthening the ecosystem.

“Does LPDP guarantee that when they (alumni) return, they will get a job? That is beyond LPDP. That is why we are talking about an ecosystem. We coordinate with industry, including with Danantara, so that the ecosystem can be built,” he explained.

Sudarto said that this effort will take time until the ecosystem is fully established.

In parallel, LPDP is preparing an internship or entrepreneurship scheme abroad for alumni for a period of up to two years after graduation with LPDP approval and meeting the set requirements.

“By giving them this internship period, hopefully when they return, the industry will be ready. And hopefully LPDP can be part of building the ecosystem,” he said.