The Institute for Human Resources Studies and Development (Lakpesdam) of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) opened the scholarship for Assistance in Preparation for Masters and Doctoral Studies Abroad and launched the NU Scholarship website, Wednesday (27 March 2024).

According to the Secretary of Lakpesdam PBNU, Ulfi Ulfiah, currently Lakpesdam PBNU is the implementer of the scholarship program for Assistance in Preparation for Masters and Doctoral Studies Abroad in collaboration with the Republic of Indonesia's National Amil Zakat Agency (Baznas) with PBNU. Apart from being the implementer, it was also agreed that Lakpesdam PBNU would be the implementing coordinator for the Baznas-PBNU scholarship.

"To facilitate coordination and also serve as a database for recipients of scholarships from NU, we initiated the creation of this NU Scholarship website, so that later we can detect recipient data and scholarship alumni data through this website," said the woman who graduated from the School of Government and Public Policy ( SGPP) Indonesia.

Ufi added, apart from the PBNU Lakpesdam implementing the PBNU and BAZNAS collaboration scholarship program, there are 3 other institutions, namely: the Ma'arif Educational Institute (LP), NU Rabithah Ma'ahid Al-Islamiyah (RMI), and the NU Higher Education Institute (LPTNU).

"Each institution carries out scholarships with different specifications. There are preparatory scholarships for entering strata 1, on-going scholarships for strata 1, and special scholarships for lecturers at PTNNU," he explained.

Furthermore, the Director of NU Scholarship, Muhammad Syauqillah added, specifically the PBNU Lakpesdam is the implementer of the Masters-S3 Study Preparation Assistance Program Abroad, which is currently entering class II. "Batch I has been open since October 2023, which recruited 20 recipients and is currently carrying out the English language course process and also the IELTS test," said the man who also serves as Deputy Chair of the PBNU Lakpesdam.

According to the man who is familiarly called Syauqi, different from registration for batch I, for batch II the entire process will be carried out via the NU Scholarship website at www.nuscholarship.or.id.

In connection with the implementation of the Scholarship for Assistance in Preparing for Masters and Doctoral Studies Abroad, the recipient of the first class scholarship, Agung Firmansyah, admitted that he was happy and surprised when he was initially accepted and was one of the participants who passed this program.

"I found out the information about this scholarship from my friend, and thank God I finally passed. Currently in the process of preparing for the IELTS test, which is indeed more difficult than other English tests. Hopefully this process will be made easier so that I can pursue my dream of studying for a PhD abroad. country," he said.