Jakarta, Aug. 27 -- Indonesia's Higher Education, Science, and Technology Ministry has pledged to cover one semester of tuition fees for 5,000 university students affected by the magnitude-7.7 earthquake that struck East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on Aug. 15.

Minister Brian Yuliarto announced the educational assistance on Wednesday (Aug. 26) during a visit to a disaster relief post run by the Catholic University of St. Paul in Ruteng, Manggarai District, NTT, according to a statement cited here on Thursday.

"The big family of the Higher Education Ministry, along with the entire academic community, would like to extend our condolences for the disaster in NTT. We will provide assistance equivalent to one semester of tuition fees for 5,000 studen...