September 9, 2026 | 02:53 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s National Amil Zakat Agency (Baznas) is awarding master's degree scholarships to Palestinian students to study at various higher education institutions in Indonesia through the Palestinian Scholar Scholarship Program.
Idy Muzayyad, the BAZNAS RI Board Member for Distribution, Utilization, and Empowerment, explained that this initiative was adopted as an alternative to channel aid from the Indonesian people to Palestine, as direct aid delivery is currently suboptimal due to the unconducive situation and conditions in the region.
"Therefore, we took the initiative to modify the assistance scheme by providing scholarships for Palestinian students who have completed their bachelor's degrees to pursue master's studies in Indonesia," said Idy during the launch of the Cendekia Palestina Scholarship in Jakarta on Wednesday, as quoted by ANTARA.
Idy cited a study by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek) revealing that many higher education institutions in Indonesia require international students to boost their global reputation.
"This is a case of mutual alignment. We have a budget for Palestine, though we haven't yet channeled it directly there. At the same time, our higher education institutions need international students. Therefore—insya Allah—we are allocating Rp22 billion to enable 200 students from Palestine to study in Indonesia," said Idy.
Idy hopes that future collaborations will enable the utilization of ZIS (zakat, infaq, and sadaqah) funds to become more beneficial and generate a wider impact.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Brian Yuliarto, expressed appreciation for the collaboration with Baznas.
He hopes this program will help Palestinian students while achieving multiple objectives at once. It will enhance the quality of domestic higher education institutions, killing two birds with one stone.
"This scholarship will be used to increase the number of international students—specifically as part of initiatives to boost international student enrollment on our campuses—since the donor's mandate was for a program dedicated to Palestine. Ultimately, we are using it to bring Palestinians here to study at our universities," said Brian Yuliarto.
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