There will be more higher educational institutions joining the ICE Institute consortium in the near future in a bid to develop the learning network nationally, thereby making the program more massive.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Cyber universities have been opened in Indonesia to expand higher education coverage, director general of higher education, research and technology at the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry, Nizam, has said.

“We have opened some cyber universities, such as Indonesia Cyber Education Institute, or ICE Institute, under Universitas Terbuka (UT), Universitas Cyber Asia, Muhammadiyah Cyber University, and Universitas Indonesia Cerdas,” he informed during a webinar on 'ICE Institute for One Indonesia', televised here on Wednesday.

Such efforts mirror the acceleration of digital transformation, which is important to be developed to make Indonesia not only a consumer but also a major player in the digital era, he highlighted.

“(We should forge) our mutual cooperation spirit to transform and to support one another in attempts to build the nation,” he noted.

ICE Institute offers 138 online courses through its consortium comprising 14 higher educational institutions, ICE Institute head Paulina Panned informed.

“The institute also offers 1,420 online courses from EdX, an MIT-Harvard consortium, for all academicians across Indonesia,” she added.

The total number of students studying at ICE Institute has reached more or less 3,700 and 220 of them have graduated from their courses, Pannen informed.

Meanwhile, Universitas Terbuka rector Ojat Darojat said that the ICE Institute has played an important role in opening access to recognized online courses for all students at the higher education level.

In the near future, the institute's students will be offered some programs to achieve specific skills required in the country from micro-credentials to game development to artificial intelligence for the education sector, he added

“There will be more higher educational institutions joining the ICE Institute consortium in the near future in a bid to develop the learning network nationally, thereby making the program more massive,” he remarked.

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Translator: Indriani, Juwita Trisna Rahayu
Editor: Suharto
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