Hard Worker and Brilliant, Children of PKH Beneficiaries Succesfully Become a Police Officer

He is I Putu Ema Perdana Putra (21), son of Ni Ketut Sutiyatini. It has been two months since Ema's son – as I Putu Ema is called – has started working at the Bali Police. Sutiyatini still remembers Ema's warm hug when he said goodbye to work.

His hug left a longing for Sutiyatini. She admits that his success in educating Ema cannot be separated from the support of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Sutiyatini is listed as a recipient of the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Basic Food Assistance.

PKH is a program of providing conditional social assistance to Poor Families (KM) who are designated as PKH beneficiary families. PKH components are pregnant women, childhood, school children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Each component has different index. For pregnant women, the index is Rp. 3 million/year, Childhood is Rp. 3 million/year, Elementary School is Rp. 900 thousand/year, Middle School is Rp. 1.5 million/year, High School is Rp. 2 million/year, People with Severe Disabilities Rp. 2.4 million / year and the elderly Rp. 2.4 million / year.

“Ema's education is assisted by PKH. So, I said that Ema has to prove that he can achieve and be successful," said the 42-year-old woman who lives in Kerambitan District, Tabanan, Bali. Ema has always been proud of his parents. His academic achievements are brilliant.

Since elementary school to high school, Ema has always been ranked 1. Even on campus, his GPA is the highest in his class. In addition to achieve academically, Ema is also a member of the Paskibraka (Flag Hoisting Troop) team in Tabanan Regency, Bali in 2018. He is the only student selected to represent his school to become a Paskibraka member.

His achievements earned him many educational opportunities. Starting from education in college, to the offer of education to become a Police officer. For Ema, all opportunities must be tried.

"In 2019, Ema tried to enter college, got an invitation and a bidik misi scholarship from Bali Polytechnic. He entered the college without a test because he was ranked 1st and was a member of Paskibraka. Finally, he was accepted," said I Nyoman Bachelor, his father.

The struggle did not stop there. Ema still wants to try to take the test to become a member of the Police. In 2019, he tried, but failed in the written psychological test. In 2021, he tried his luck again, but he had to fail again for the second time at the final test stage.

The following year, in 2022, he tried again to participate in the selection of the Second National Police Officer. Grateful, this third effort paid off, Ema passed the selection and was placed in the Bali Police.

Sutiyatini's memory of his son's consistency during the preparation for the police test was clearly recorded. This memory made him unable to contain the emotion when his son was declared to have passed the test and officially became a member of the National Police.

"The announcement was made online on the Bali Police YouTube. I watched it together with my grandmother, father and sister Ema. I couldn't stand it, I cried remembering her struggle. Persistent. Morning and evening lectures.

When he came home from college, he ran around the village at 12 o'clock at night to prepare for the physical test, finally he passed," he said in a trembling voice.

Ema's success realized that economic limitations did not prevent children from achieving success. Government support is also needed so that the beneficiaries can improve their level of social welfare.