Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology calls for Indonesian universities to always keep up with current trends, such as new technology, social dynamics, and the latest workforce demands for industry.
"Campuses all over the world, including Indonesia, will get left behind if they are not adaptable and do not pursue innovations, and no one will be interested in them," Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Fauzan said here on Sunday.
According to him, this measure is necessary to attract people and to create competent talents capable of either meeting industry demands as workers or starting a business as entrepreneurs.
He elaborated on his recent visit to Palangka Raya Muhammadiyah University (UMPR) in Central Kalimantan. Fauzan commended the university for its rapid growth, saying the campus will be as successful as other campuses in several cities.
"I have gone to some campuses in Indonesia. When I went to UMPR in person, I saw a bright, developed, clean campus," he explained.
UMPR, he said, has many students across 13 faculties and 28 study programs, including medical and dentistry faculties, and is equipped with facilities such as many buildings and laboratories. He noted that this shows how developed the university is.
He also commended the university for establishing new study programs, such as a doctorate in education and some unique study programs in the medical field for graduate programs.
"UMPR is also an adaptive campus that adjusts to the changes of the era and public needs. Alhamdulillah, by establishing new study programs, it means that UMPR has responded to public needs," Fauzan noted.
The rector of UMPR, Muhammad Yusuf, said his administration consistently develops the facilities and establishes new study programs, which include medical, dentistry, and seven study programs of medical sciences.
Currently, UMPR has some seven thousand students and sets a target of receiving 6,000 new students.
"Alhamdulillah, some three thousand students have registered across 28 study programs in UMPR, and three thousand more are in the middle of the Central Kalimantan scholarship selection process," he explained.
Yusuf is confident that the deputy minister's visit to the campus can motivate the development of the university.
