Students scramble for scholarships

Students scramble for scholarships

MANADO, North Sulawesi: Thousands of students from several
universities in Manado have been queuing up at the North Sulawesi
governor's office this past week to apply for scholarships
offered by the governor.

More than 2,300 students had registered as of Friday.

The students were from institutes and universities in Manado,
including the top university in the province, Sam Ratulangi
University.

Ivana, a student, said that the scholarship would ease the
burden of paying tuition.

She complimented the administration for awarding scholarships,
saying that the requirements to apply were simple. She only
needed a letter showing her last semester's examination results,
a passport photograph, a letter from her university saying that
she qualifies for a scholarship and her application for the
scholarship.

Spokesman for North Sulawesi provincial government B. Monunutu
said on Friday that the government had allocated Rp 9 billion
(US$957,447) for the scholarships, popularly called Si Tou Timou
Tumou Tou scholarship (ST-4).

He said that some Rp 5 billion had already been disbursed to
university students and the remaining amount would be disbursed
soon.

"The scholarships are important to enhance the quality of
human resources in the province," said Monunutu. -- Antara