Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - The Gadjah Mada University (UGM) is considering employing another 200 to 300 foreign lecturers this year, to increase their numbers to one thousand and improve the quality of education on offer.

"We will increase the number of foreign lecturers. We have set ourselves the target of employing 200 to 300 more foreign lecturers this year," UGM Deputy Rector I for Academic and Student Affairs Prof Iwan Dwiprahasto announced here Monday.

The university currently employs some 800 foreign lecturers, he stated.

"With the number of foreign lecturers reaching one thousand to 1,100, they will make up 25-27 percent of the total number of lecturers working for the UGM. The foreign lecturers currently represent 19 percent of the UGM lecturers," he said.

The UGM will continue to make every effort to improve the quality of its education to become one of the best universities in the world, he declared.

In just one year, the UGM has climbed 50 notches in the academic rankings of world universities to 500th in 2016 from 550th a year earlier.

"Given the efforts we have made so far, we are optimistic that we will be able to become one of the best universities in the world," he remarked.

Further, UGM will forge cooperation with foreign universities, employ foreign lecturers and intensify double degree programs in association with the foreign universities, he said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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