These main policies encompass the opportunity to learn outside of the campus for a maximum of one year as well as matching funds for research and academic collaboration, he explained.
While introducing Kampus Merdeka to university and industry representatives from the United Kingdom in London, Makarim also highlighted the visiting scholar program, undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, and creation of international campus in Indonesia.
To this day, over 130 thousand university students participate in the Kampus Merdeka Program, and more than 2.8 thousand industrial institutions and non-profit organizations are involved as partners.
The Kampus Merdeka Program encompasses learning outside of campus programs, including internship and independent study that are directly related to collaboration between universities and industries.
Earlier, several people from industries expressed discontent over the quality of university graduates, so the government had encouraged them to become mentors for these students, Makarim remarked.
He then invited the United Kingdom university representatives to run the Indonesian student exchange program "International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA)" in their campus.
This invitation was based on the success of IISMA in the last two years in providing opportunity to over 3,500 university students to learn in 117 world-class campuses.
Moreover, in relation to the matching funds, Makarim stressed the huge potential that Indonesia has as the land of research, especially for several fields that currently become a priority.
These fields encompass green economy, blue economy, tourism, digital technology, and health infrastructure.
In fact, in 2022, the ministry had managed to forge 1,093 collaborations between universities and campuses to work on joint research with the support of matching funds.
Moreover, the minister elaborated on the Visiting Scholar Program that supports cross-border knowledge exchange.
Several activities that professors or lecturers attending the program can undertake, include becoming a guest lecturer, training educators in Indonesia, and writing joint scientific articles.
Professors can also be peer reviewers, develop learning modules, and become supervisors for postgraduate students to be able to participate in the Visiting Scholar Program.
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Translator: Astrid F H, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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