UPI's Vice Rector for Research, Service, and Partnerships, Agus Setiabudi, stated that this meeting gives an opportunity for UPI to contribute to addressing real-world issues in education, particularly the high number of children not yet in school.
"It is like gayung bersambut. We are indeed addressing real-world issues in education," Setiabudi said in Bandung on Tuesday.
He explained that UPI's contribution will focus on curriculum development, teacher capacity building, and implementation of the Sekolah Rakyat program.
According to him, UPI does not set a target number of students, but will support the targets of the Ministry of Social by strengthening academic aspects and the education system.
As a first step, he said, UPI will deploy students for field internships to support educators and assess their potential for recruitment in the future.
"Next, they will assess the capacity of our students. If they have potential, they can be recruited as staff. In the near future, we will also provide training for the teachers and improve the school curriculum," he said.
UPI expressed its readiness to contribute further by drafting a memorandum of understanding (MoU), developing pilot projects as well as developing an educational roadmap until the graduate independence phase.
"The point is UPI is ready. This is precisely what we are looking for: real needs in the field. As it happened, these needs come directly from the Ministry of Social, so we simply need to channel our existing capacity," he said.
Setiabudi hopes that the Sekolah Rakyat program can reach this group through a boarding-based educational approach that emphasizes character building and improving the quality of human resources.
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Translator: Rubby J, Asri Mayang Sari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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