The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) launched the Independent Student Exchange Program as a form of implementation of the Independent Learning Campus (MBKM) policy. The Independent Student Exchange is carried out to foster student love for the cultural diversity of their homeland and to encourage the strengthening and expansion of student academic competence.
Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud), Nadiem Anwar Makarim
Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud), Nadiem Anwar Makarim said that love for the homeland and strengthening competence are valuable assets for students in climbing the career ladder. In addition to preparing themselves as future leaders of the nation and serving the nation and state.
“This program aims to build a sense of tolerance among students through meeting spaces formed through student exchange activities and exploration of Indonesian cultural diversity,” said Nadiem in his remarks delivered online, in Jakarta, (12/4).
Furthermore, Nizam explained the important elements in the Independent Student Exchange. This program allows for inter-island student exchanges from PTN to PTS or vice versa. Universities are required to provide conversion and recognition of the semester credit system (SKS) of 20 credits for students who take part in this program. This program can be followed by students from semester three to semester eight. In addition to providing students with the opportunity to study at other campuses, in this program students will explore the diversity of Indonesian culture through learning the Nusantara Module.
This has been done by the Best PTS Sumatran Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia (UTI) Students. It doesn’t feel like the Independent Nusantara Student Exchange Program of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture has entered the final period of lectures. Seven Indonesian Technocrat University Students are currently in good health and have attended the learning module programs and the archipelago module well at Atmajaya University Yogyakarta (UAJY).
As for the student activities outside of class time, the following is the agenda: 1) UTI students are welcomed in a “Welcoming Ceremony” gala at the Auditorium Gd. Thomas Aquinas UAJY; 2) UTI students since November have participated in limited offline lectures at UAJY; 3) UTI students take part in the Nusantara Module “Knowing Yogyakarta Traditional Arts” such as wayang kulit and Yogyakarta gamelan; 4) After getting to know the traditional variety of Yogyakarta arts, UTI students also took part in the “Study tour of Prambanan Temple Yogyakarta” and studied the history of Indonesia’s cultural heritage; 5) UTI students also visited the Batu Alien Merapi Tourism Object, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta.
These experiences can develop character, love for the homeland, tolerance for our students and finally achieve success in the future, in accordance with the objectives of the Independent Student Exchange Program.
The following are seven students participating in the Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia Free Learning Exchange who are conducting offline lectures at UAJY.
The first student from the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Akbar Hamongangan Lubis, the Informatics Systems Study Program, is currently participating in the Independent Student Exchange at the Atma Jaya Campus, Yogyakarta by taking the Semester Credit System (SKS) of 10 credits with courses in Web Programming, Design Thinking and Creativity, Multimedia Basics, Nusantara Module and courses taken at UTI are 10 credits with courses in Software Engineering, Mobile Programming, Web Programming and Game Design.
By participating in the Independent Learning Exchange Program, the impression is pleasant, especially for the exchange program, you can study at different campuses and meet friends from various campuses in Indonesia, said Akbar with a 3.42 GPA.
The second UTI student is Mauliana, a student of the Informatics Study Program who is currently participating in KMMI at ITB and Student Exchange at UAJY by taking 22 credits of the following subjects: Digital Society, Interpersonal Communication, Design Thinking and Creativity, Database Administration, Business Intelligence. With this independent campus program, I was able to meet new friends, get to know new cultures, and at UAJY I learned about cultural diversity. “From Jogjakarta to tolerance and acculturation of culture and religion, which is very strong in Jogja,” said Mauliana, who has a GPA of 3.24.
The third UTI student, Nico Dwi Hidayah, a student of the Informatics Study Program, is taking 3 courses in mobile programming, web programming, game design, while courses at UTI are Software Engineering, Socio Informatics and Professionalism, Teknopreneurship, Professional Ethics and Computer Graphics.
Even in his busy schedule, Nico has won 1st place in the Bridge Selection for the National Student Bridge League in Southern Sumatra; 4th place in the National Student Bridge League in Jakarta; 3rd place in Bridge at UGM, explained Nico, who last semester had a GPA of 3.14.
This was followed by the fourth UTI student from the Faculty of Economics and Business, Accounting Study Program, namely Ekawasti Januarsi who is currently at UAJY with 14 credits courses including the Nusantara Module courses, namely Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Practices, Advanced Financial Accounting, and auditing, and at UTI with 8 credits of International Accounting, Tax and Management Information Systems with a GPA last semester of 3.74. Participating in the PMM-DN program is to make more acquaintances and friends for discussion, to meet new people learning to continue to carry the good name of the Alma mater, and from this program I also understand that there are several systems that I have not learned. “For this program, I think this program is very good and must be maintained,” said Ekawasti.
The fifth was Elda Tri Ayuningsih’s undergraduate Accounting Study Program students who participated in the Independent Student Exchange at Atma Jaya University, Yogyakarta, last semester with a GPA of 3.81. Attend lectures with 12 credits covering Accounting Practice, Auditing I, Accounting Information Systems, Advanced Financial Accounting, while 8 credits at UTI.
The impression of participating in this student exchange program is very pleasant, being able to meet lecturers and fellow students from the destination campus (Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta) and from various other universities. And you can also learn the customs and culture of other student areas, starting from the local language and also the manners in the student area. To add friends in discussion and group work, insight and experience. “The hope is for these student exchange programs that this program can continue so that other students can have the experience to study at other universities, and meet other student friends,” said Elda Tri Ayuningsih.
The sixth student from the S1 English Education Study Program, Faculty of Letters and Education, UTI, namely Helena Cynthia Agustin, a student who took part in the independent student exchange program at Atmajaya University, Yogyakarta. The credits that I took at the Indonesian Technocrat University were 4 credits and at Atmajaya University there were 10 credits. For the courses I took at the Technocrat University, there were: Academic presentation, Introduction to literary study. The subjects I took at Atma Jaya University were: Nusantara Module, Legal English, Academic English, General English, and Interpersonal Communication, for my last GPA of 3.36.
The seventh student is Aprilian Paramita, the courses taken from UAJY are 10 credits, namely Legal English, Academic English, General English, Interpersonal Communication and Nusantara Module, while the courses at UTI are 4 credits. Added Aprilian, I had a lot of extraordinary experiences when I joined the Merdeka Campus. Lots of experiences, lessons, memories. I can’t express anymore how I feel when I join this Merdeka Campus, it’s extraordinary.
