The Indonesian government has set an ambitious target in education with holders of master degrees to be increased by seven times in proportion to the population in 10 years.  The number of Indonesians holding master degrees would be increased to 16,000 from 2,300 at present per one million of the population in 2015, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said.

The ratio for those holding doctorates is expected to shoot up to 1,400 per million of the population from 143 at present, the minister said.  The increase in the ratio would contribute to expansion of the country's tertiary educational institutions with the availability of larger numbers of qualified lecturers, he said.

For that purpose the government has set aside 20 percent of the state budget fund for education and provide an endowment fund for education, he said.   The endowment fund is held and managed by the Education Fund Management Agency (LPDP) to be used to finance scholarships.  The minister said the government will continue efforts to improve the quality of the country's human resources as the key factor in seeking to improve the economic welfare of the country.