T o enhance friendship and better understanding around the globe through education, culture and arts, the Indonesian government provides two kinds of scholarships namely Darmasiswa from Ministry of Education and Culture, and Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship from Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These scholarships contribute significantly for promoting people-to-people contact and strengthen bilateral relations, as well as provide indepth knowledge about Indonesia in many aspects.

D armasiswa is a scholarship program offered to all foreign students from friendly countries to learn Bahasa, culture and arts. Participants can choose one of selected universities located in different cities in Indonesia. This program is organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The Darmasiswa program started in 1974 as part of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) initiative, admitting only students from ASEAN. However, in 1976 this program was extended to include students from other countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and USA. In early 90's, this program was extended further to include all friendly countries. Until to date, the number of countries participating in this program has reached more than 80 countries.

The main purpose of the Darmasiswa program is to promote the language, culture and arts of Indonesia to the youths from other countries. It has also been designed to provide understanding and stronger cultural bonds among participants.

Currently, the alumni of Darmasiswa from Slovakia are 251 alumni (year 2000-2018).