We finally managed to develop a successful (educational) incentive (scheme), (by determining) how to attract the industry (sector) to invest in universities.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian universities have succeeded in securing a total investment of Rp1.24 trillion from industry players through the Kedaireka project, Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim has said.

"We have received Rp1.24 trillion of matching funds from industrial players through the Kedaireka cooperation project," he informed during a joint meeting with Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) here on Tuesday.

Kedaireka is an acronym for Business Cooperation and Creative Creation, which can also be interpreted as Indonesian Sovereignty in Creating Invention. It is a collaborative matching fund scheme platform for universities and industrial actors.

The minister noted that the industrial sector’s strong enthusiasm for investing in the activities of universities indicates that the matching fund platform has been the most successful educational incentive program ever carried out by the ministry.

The Rp1.24 trillion in investment will be used for research and innovation programs carried out by universities, thus they will be able to generate excellent quality human resources (HR), he added.

“We finally managed to develop a successful (educational) incentive (scheme), (by determining) how to attract the industry (sector) to invest in universities," he remarked.

The industry sector has invested Rp439.2 billion in vocational schools through the Matching Fund Scheme for Vocational Senior High School (SMK), which has involved 349 industry actors and 373 SMKs.

In addition, at least 241 industry partners have invested Rp94.5 billion in the Matching Fund Program for Higher Vocational Educational Institutions.

"Thus, we also have matching fund (programs) for SMKs as it turns out that industry players are actively participating and willing to spend their resources on our SMKs," Makarim said.

Earlier, acting director general of higher education, research, and technology at the ministry, Nizam, said that there was a significant increase in the number of Kedaireka users in 2022 compared to 2021.

The number of higher education participants on the platform surged by 81 percent, while the number of industrial partners jumped by 425 percent.


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Translator: Astrid Habibah, Uyu Liman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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