Telkom University as the best private campus in Indonesia is reflected in the academicians who are constantly improving themselves, students, lecturers, and alumni. This can be seen through the policies issued in dealing with Covid-19 today. Telkom University held a webinar ‘Regulations and Policies for the Internationalization Program in Dealing with New Normal’.
This webinar was held on Wednesday (24/06) through the Zoom application and was participated by participants from 172 institutions throughout Indonesia. On this webinar, Prof. Dr. Adiwijaya as Chancellor of Telkom University with several speakers namely Yusron B. Ambary as Director of Public Diplomacy, Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Rochadi Iman Santoso as Director of Immigration Cooperation, Directorate of Immigration, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and Adhrial Refaddin as Sub-Coordinator The Institution of Higher Education KEMENDIKBUD RI.
Prof. Dr. Adiwijaya as Chancellor of Telkom University gave his remarks at the webinar. He said that educational institutions were one of the sectors affected by the current Covid-19 pandemic.
“Many activities must be rescheduled, even postponed, even further canceled. But in this situation we are forced to look for ways to get out of these programs because it is impossible to give up. Everything is adapting, but I am very confident in this adaptation process, with existing problems, new opportunities always arise. In line with the independent campus program, there are opportunities that we can take advantage of, “he said.
Prof. Dr. Adiwijaya added, related to the pandem period, the internationalization must still be carried out to foster the confidence of the entire academic community because in this globalization we cannot limit collaboration with anyone.
Prof. Dr. Adiwijaya hopes that this activity can increase awareness of government regulations and policies during the New Normal period related to planned international programs.
In this webinar, the first material was delivered by Yusron B. Ambary as Director of Public Diplomacy, Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. Yusron B. Ambary explained about the Scope of Internationalization Activities of Higher Education. He said that there were a range of activities including international student admission, curriculum development and innovation, lecturer and student exchange, study program development, availability of international standard learning facilities and technology as well as joint research and publications.
“The aim of the first internationalization of higher education is politics, politics here to increase influence, show off the level of progress of the country, instill and promote ideology. Second, the economics. It is for financial gain from international students. And the last one is socio-culture, to improve the quality of education, improve the quality of human resources, promotion of culture, promotion of tourism and increase mutual understanding, “he said.
Yusron B. Ambary added that the internationalization of higher education was interpreted as a process of higher education that had the purpose, function or delivery of integrated education with international components as one form of public diplomacy carried out by LPT with government support.
The success of the internationalization of education, especially the acceptance of international students during the pandemic can be seen when the government and campus can ensure the safety, security and comfort of students. This can create a positive image so that strategic objectives in the political, economic and socio-cultural fields can be achieved. I currently believe that all universities must focus on online learning. Then related to program collaboration
Internationalization must still be carried out to foster the confidence of the entire academic community because in this globalization era we cannot limit collaboration with anyone.
Prof. Dr. Adiwijaya hopes that this activity can increase awareness of government regulations and policies during the New Normal period related to planned international programs.
Conversely, failure to manage public diplomacy programs will adversely affect the image of a country so that it is counterproductive to achieving the stated strategic goals.
“There are several things that must be prepared such as the provision of technology compared to the number of registrants, need to increase the capacity of lecturers for online teaching, need to adjust tuition fees for self-funded ones, and also need to provide internet allowance for scholarship recipients.”
Yusron B. Ambary also said that if the pandemic was successfully controlled, campus life would enter the new normal. International students can begin to enter the territory of Indonesia and take part in face-to-face learning on campus by carrying out predetermined health protocols.
Then Rochadi Iman Santoso, as the Director of Immigration Cooperation, Directorate General of Immigration, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, explained the material regarding regulations that have been set by the government during the pandemic until new normal.
There are procedures and requirements for exiting and entering Indonesian territory. Related to this, migration officials have the right to refuse foreigners from entering Indonesian territory following Article 12 of Immigration Law No. 6 of 2011.
“There are already around 246 foreigners whom we refused arrival during the period from 6 February to 22 May 2020. The refusal was carried out directly at the immigration checkpoints, most at Soekarno-Hatta and Ngurah Rai airports,” he said.
There are several reasons for the rejection of foreigners, namely living in a country with a large number of cases for 14 days, having a high body temperature of more than 38 degrees, not having a COVID-free certificate, and refusing to be examined for his health.
After the end of the Emergency Period, Permenkumham No.11 / 2020 will be amended/replaced by a new Permenkumhan which will reopen services at immigration offices and return Immigration procedures as stipulated in effect by implementing the Health Protocol and opening services online during the New Normal period.
Furthermore, Adhrial Refaddin, the Sub-Coordinator of Higher Education Institutions of the Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture explained the impact of Covid-19 on the tertiary sector. Universities in 175 countries forced to close, and more than 200 million students were interrupted and even stopped studying. It is a major concern throughout the world.
“To mitigate this risk, Indonesia itself has implemented the Indonesian SPADA program or the Indonesian Online Learning System. SPADA is a Massive Open Online Courses Indonesia that provides content from various tertiary institutions and lecturers who have passed quality assurance from the Director-General of Higher Education, “he said.
This is also in line with the Merdeka Campus program, Merdeka Belajar Mahasiswa for Students who have been run by the Indonesian government. Through Merdeka Campus, every university can open new study programs with a guaranteed higher education accreditation system. State universities are also legal entities and each student has the right to study three semesters outside the study program.
Regarding the right of students to study three semesters outside this study program aims to create a competitive or competent workforce or graduate following the needs of the public, sector, and industry sector.
The presentation of study programs with corporate partners, non-profit organizations, multilateral institutions, or QS Top 100 World University by Subject. The presentation of the new study program made also cooperates with the specified partners. Also, study programs have international accreditation and / certifications that are recognized by the government.
With current conditions, internationalization can be done by increasing the quality standards of education so that we still have global competitiveness. Through this activity, we are expected to be able to implement 4C, namely Communications, Coordinations, Cooperations, and Collaborations for the progress of the Indonesian people.