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