REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Government will grant 100 scholarships, which include international transport, tuition fee, and living cost, each year to students of Islamic schools or madrasas of Mindanao, the Philippines, to study in Indonesia.

According to a press release from Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, the scholarship, among the programs of Islamic education cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines, was launched on Wednesday in the Davao City, Philippines.

The cooperation was launched by Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi in Madrasa Al Munawwara of Davao City, South Philippines, during her visit to the neighboring country.

Madrasa Al Munawwara in Davao City was the first accredited Islamic school in the Philippines since 1996.

The madrasa houses 200 students, 13 teachers, and 8 imams.

The cooperation in education between Indonesia and the Philippines was once discussed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Filipino President Rodrigro Duterte during the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Manila in November last year.

The two governments had agreed on the importance of developing Islamic education that will cover curriculum developments; joint research and education workshops; Ulema, principal, and teacher exchange programs; technical vocational education (benchmarking activities); and student exchange programs, especially to Islamic schools in South Mindanao.

During her visit to the Philippines, Marsudi also paid a courtesy call to Duterte at the presidential palace in Panacan, Davao City.

Marsudi also symbolically handed over 300 passports to the Indonesian descendants living in the Philippines to award them Indonesian citizenship.

Those who were granted Indonesian citizenship were Indonesians descendants who have been living for generations in the southern Philippines' region but yet to have citizenship.

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