At least 540 children of Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) studying at Kota Kinabalu Indonesian School (SIKK) and community learning centers (CLC) in Sabah, Malaysia, have received scholarships to return to Indonesia for secondary education.

“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, children of the migrant workers can study well through face-to-face learning,” Sabah SIKK headmaster Dadang Hermawan told ANTARA over the phone on Wednesday.

The scholarship program from the government of Indonesia for migrant workers’ children in Sabah has run smoothly, even though the program of continuing school was delayed at one point, he noted.

In the first stage, 28 migrant children who received scholarships under the program for the 2020–2021 academic year left for Indonesia on December 18–19, 2021, he informed.

Hermawan said he hoped that the fact that the children have waited for almost one semester to return to Indonesia to continue their education can push them to study more diligently.

“Be grateful and use this opportunity as well as possible. I believe that the country’s children from Sabah, Malaysia, can shine through their achievements in the future,” he remarked.

Another 512 migrant workers’ children are waiting for the next stage of repatriation as they have obtained scholarships for the 2021 academic year, he informed.

Every year, an educational repatriation program is held for TKI children studying at SIKK and CLCs at palm oil plantations in Sabah, Malaysia, he said.

The program allows them to continue their education in Indonesia to the level of junior and high school through the Secondary Education Affirmation (ADEM) scheme of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, provincial government, and a foundation.

According to Hermawan, the ADEM scholarship, which is commonly known as the ‘Education Repatriation Scholarship’, is intended to allow junior high school graduates to continue their high school education in Indonesia.

In addition to ADEM, SIKK also organizes student repatriations with the support of the South Sulawesi provincial government and a foundation that issues scholarships, he added.

“With the first stage’s repatriation, there are 512 more children who are still waiting for the process of documentation to join the next departure to their homeland,” he informed.

Source: Antara News