Fifty high-achieving students from disadvantaged, frontier and outermost areas of West Kalimantan received the Secondary Education Affirmation Program (ADEM) scholarships for the 2026/2027 school year. The central government will fund their secondary education and living support in Pontianak. Seven public schools and teacher foster families will provide academic supervision, accommodation and daily personal guidance.

PONTIANAK, thekabarnews.com—Fifty students from West Kalimantan’s disadvantaged, frontier and outermost areas will continue their education at public senior high and vocational schools in Pontianak. They will do so through the Secondary Education Affirmation Program (ADEM).

The students attended a handover and orientation ceremony at Hotel Gajahmada in Pontianak on Friday, July 17. Acting Head of the West Kalimantan Education and Culture Office, Syarif Faisal Indahmawan Alkadri, led the event. The ceremony also involved education officials from the participants’ home districts and representatives of their receiving schools.

Several parents became emotional as they prepared to leave their children in Pontianak. Many of them are living away from their families for the first time.

Local education offices selected the students through a multistage process based on regional recommendations and academic performance. Eligibility as residents of designated 3T areas—Indonesia’s disadvantaged, frontier and outermost regions—was required.

“Participants are selected through a district-level process based on recommendations from local education offices. Academic scores are one of the main indicators used to determine scholarship recipients,” Faisal said.

He clarified that economic circumstances were not the program’s only consideration. Candidates must also demonstrate academic achievement and meet the geographical criteria established for the ADEM Special Regions category.

The students come from areas including Sintang, Kapuas Hulu, Bengkayang, Sanggau and Sambas regencies. They also come from the border districts of Ketungau and Badau.

The 50 recipients will attend seven public schools: SMAN 1, SMAN 3, SMAN 7, SMAN 8, SMKN 1, SMKN 5 and SMKN 9 Pontianak.

Most students will live with foster parents who are teachers at their respective schools. The arrangement aims to provide accommodation while helping students adjust academically, socially and emotionally.

“The central government covers their education and living expenses. For accommodation, foster parents from the receiving schools will support them,” Faisal said.

Under national ADEM rules, participating schools must hold at least B-level accreditation and appear in the government’s Dapodik education database. They must also demonstrate the ability to educate and supervise scholarship recipients. Schools without dormitories may place students with teachers or local families acting as foster parents.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education allocates monthly ADEM assistance of Rp2.2 million to senior high school students. For vocational students, the assistance is Rp2.3 million, according to an official ministry statement.

For 2026, the ministry assigned West Kalimantan a quota of 50 new ADEM Special Regions participants. Nationally, the program targets 5,519 active recipients. These include 1,501 students from 3T areas, according to the ministry’s Education Financing Service Center.

Official records indicate that more than 12,000 students joined ADEM between 2013 and 2025, with approximately 7,000 completing the program. The government recorded 4,616 active recipients and Rp90 billion in expenditure during 2025.

The Pontianak placement seeks to narrow geographical education gaps. It also gives academically capable students access to stronger facilities, broader learning opportunities and sustained mentoring away from home.