In 2015, The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) has set a target to award 50 overseas postgraduate scholarships, both Master’s and PhD programmes, to its civil servants (KKP Staff). The scholarships would be awarded to KKP staff that had passed the selection process. Some of the priority courses are food security, international marketing, conservation, biotechnology and others courses that related with marine and fisheries. However, the courses selection has to be in accordance with the needs of the KKP Staff’s division. They can propose a certain course but the final decision will be made by their line manager or head of division.

This is the first time that KKP is financing some of their civil servants to study abroad. This programme is initiated by the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Ms. Susi Pudjiastuti with the aim to accelerate the competence of KKP staffs.

To support this award, Human Resource Development and Marine Community Empowerment (BPSDM KP) KKP has prepared budget about 500 million rupiah (GBP 25,000) and this budget will be allocated for this year.

However the numbers of KKP Scholarships recipients are still far from the expected target due to the English language barrier. The majority of KKP staff still has low English proficiency. To overcome this, KKP is committed to provide any support needed to improve the English proficiency of its staff.

Starting next year, KKP is planning to merge its scholarships with LPDP (Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education). However initial discussions are still ongoing for this and at this moment nothing has been finalized yet.

Source:
• face to face discussion with KKP official
• ‘KKP provides 50 scholarships for overseas study’, Sinar Harapan, 19 November 2015: http://www.sinarharapan.co/news/read/151118119/kkp-sediakan-50-beasiswa-...

Commentary:
Maritime is one priority area for Indonesian government. The scholarships offered by KKP have shown the need to develop the skills in that area. UK has been known as a Maritime Nation and this is an opportunity for UK Universities to capture Indonesian market by showcasing their courses strength and the relationship with maritime industries.

At this moment, the process of course selection is still based on the division’s needs and the staff will have the freedom to choose their study destination. However as Indonesian rely heavily on building relationships and trust, direct approach to the ministry can be beneficial to explore collaboration opportunity.

As English language is still considered as a challenge for many of its staff, KKP will certainly focus on English improvement. English language proficiency is indeed important for KKP civil servant not only to continue their study overseas, but to be more competitive in this globalization era where English is used as the main language. This is an opportunity for UK institutions, either HEI or ELT sector, to explore the possibility to offer its English programme to the ministry.