BANDUNG, UPI

Office of International Education and Relations (OIER) UPI welcomes Ms. Prabha Govindasamy from New Zealand, 4 February 2020 at OIER Office 1st floor. The purpose of the visit was to discuss future possibilities of collaboration between UPI and Giles Brooker Academy.

Ms. Prabha Govindasamy is one of the Directors of Giles Brooker Academy; part of Giles Brooker International—registered in New Zealand. She aims to create a gate for New Zealander students to explore more about East culture in a Short Course Program. They have been working first with Islamic Fashion Institute (IFI) Bandung in the Modest-Fashion field. Now they want to expand to Culinary and Business.

 “We want to expose our students that have been very comfortable with the western world to the eastern culture. We expect that they can explore not only culinary and traditional cuisine from UPI but also where the supply comes from and the process behind it. We expect for a holistic approach to this field. Because we cannot miss the global opportunity and if we keep sitting and do nothing, the student will be lost, and it is unfair for them.” Said Ms. Prabha Govindasamy.

Giles Brooker Academy has established opportunities for students from New Zealand, and other countries, to take short or longer-term study with institutions in many countries. The programs including nursing, fashion technology, supply chain management, social entrepreneurship, international business, health science/Ayurveda, social work and environmental/conservation science, innovation and sustainability in horticulture. They have been working with a lot of countries before Indonesia, like Singapore, India, and Myanmar.

Based on the discussion, the future collaboration that possible for now is a Short Course for about six weeks in 2021 with 10-15 students from New Zealand as participants.

After the discussion, Ms. Prabha Govindasamy then visited the Catering Industry Management Program (MIK) and Culinary Arts program (Tata Boga) to see the Laboratory from both of the departments. (Ghina Aulia Saffanah)

BANDUNG, UPI

On Tuesday, February 6th, 2020, a meeting between the Faculty of Educational Sciences (FIP) UPI and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia held to discuss collaboration in Lecturer and Student Exchange.

The meeting attended by Vice president of UPI for Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. H. M. Solehuddin, M.Pd, the Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences Dr. Agus Taufiq, M.Pd., Vice Deans of the Faculty of Educational Sciences Dr. Rudi Susilana, M.Si and Dr. Aceng Muhtaram Mirfani, M.Pd, along with the heads of the departments representatives from UiTM who came including Profesor Madya Dr. Asmadi Mohammed Ghazali, Dr. Abd Latif Abdul Rahman, Raja Alwi Raja Omar, Zuraidah Arif, Dr. Azree Ahmad. Several students that participated in the student exchange program also present at the venue.

The meeting’s agenda consisted of profile Introduction from both of the universities, following by presentations and discussion about the collaboration program of Lecturer and Student Exchange between two parties. The meeting ended with photo sessions and giving a token of appreciation. (Ghina Aulia Saffanah)

BANDUNG, UPI

Farewell ceremony for six students who participated in the 9th Batch of SEA-Teacher was held on 4 February 2020 at UPI University Centre 3rd floor Meeting Room.

The ceremony opened by welcoming remarks from Ahmad Bukhori Muslim, Ph.D. as The Head of Office of International Education and Relations (OIER) “This year SEA-Teacher is special than the previous one. We used to send our students to Southeast Asian countries only, but now we expand the program to Japan. Therefore, starting from this batch, we are going to send two students to Japan.”

SEA-Teacher Project or commonly known as Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange is a program that aims to provide opportunities for students from universities in Southeast Asia. This program aims to give practical experience teaching in schools in other countries in Southeast Asia.

UPI sends two batches of SEA-Teacher per year. There are in total of 6 students participating in the first batch that will be sent to three countries; Thailand, Philippines, and Japan. For this year batch, UPI sends five students from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science Education (FMIPA) and one student from the Faculty of Educational Sciences (FIP), namely: Alifia Nuzul Pramadhany (University of Tsukuba Japan), Echa Nurlaeli Naufal (University of Tsukuba Japan), Azahra Hana Fadila Bastamman (Central Luzon State University Philippines), Siti Kurnia Nurjannah (Central Luzon State University Philippines), Vianni Ismi Kania (Khon Kaen University Thailand), and Anisa Safitri (Khon Kaen University Thailand). They will participate in one month program, starting from 6 February to 5 March 2020.

Siti Fatimah, S.Pd., M.Si., PhD the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science Education opened the event by giving a speech on the importance of being adaptable to a new place for the participants when they arrive in their destination countries. “Wherever we are, we must be able to adapt to the environment, know the things of local habits there to equip us to blend in with the locals.”

Dr. Rudi Susilana, M.Si, Vice Dean of Academic Affairs of Faculty of Educational Sciences also adds on being representative of Indonesian and giving best work performance, “All participants present today are representatives from UPI, mainly representatives from Indonesia. We hope that everyone will show good performance and A+ quality. It is also possible for you to promote Indonesian cultures as well, by promoting our cultures and best value.”

Dr. Heny Djoehaeni, S.Pd., M.Si. gave the last remark from the Early Childhood Education Program “Remember that one month is a quite short period. We hope that besides teaching, the participants will also participate in insight development. Such as being involved in teacher workshops, presenting lesson plans to enrich experiences for the participants.” The ceremony officially ended with photo sessions with all participants. (Ghina Aulia Saffanah)

BANDUNG, UPI

UPI welcomed six students of the 9th Batch of SEA-Teacher, on Friday, February 7th, 2020, at Partere Building.

The ceremony opened with welcoming remarks from Ahmad Bukhori Muslim, Ph.D. as The Head of Office of International Education and Relations (OIER). He stated “This year we have a newcomer to the program, two students from Japan. Therefore we hope that more universities can join the SEA-Teacher program.”

Then following by remarks from the Vice President UPI of Research, Partnerships, and Business, Prof. Dr. H. Didi Sukyadi, M.A. ”Welcome to UPI. I hope that all of you can explore Bandung in this relatively short period, not only for the program but also about the culture and people here.”

The participants for this program were six students from 3 universities, namely: Brian Hu and Mirei Minegishi from University of Tsukuba (Japan), Hernandez, Belen D. and Labarda, Crystal Jeanne B. from Central Luzon State University (Philippines), Anukoon Hannondeang and Sirimat Jantarakote from Khon Kaen University (Thailand).

They will participate as a Teacher and will conduct Observation, Teaching Assistant, also Teaching Practicum at UPI Labschool Middle School and Pelita Nusantara Elementary School for a month from February 6th to March 5th 2020. Subjects to be taught include English, Mathematics, and Science. Their mentors will also assist them; Dr. Rojab Siti Rodliyah, Arie Rakhmat Riyadi, M.Pd., and Al Jupri, M.Sc., Ph.D.

There were also UPI profile video screenings and SEA-Teacher videos from the previous year. The welcoming ceremony ended with a photo session and a quick briefing between the participants and their mentor. (Ghina Aulia Saffanah)

Bandung, UPI

Lingkar Bidikmisi UPI held a public lecture as the peak of Silaturahmi Akbar (Silatbar) 2019 event with Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, an Executive Director of The Yudhoyono Institute, on 23rd November 2019. This public lecture was held at the Gymnasium and attended by 4.900 participants; not only UPI’s Bidikmisi students, but also UPI’s regular students and some other varsity students, such as POLMAN, POLBAN, ITB, UNPAD, IPB, Universitas Hasannudin, Universitas Jambi, and many more. The theme of this year’s public lecture is “Millennial Generation and 21st Century Skills in Disruptive Era”.

The President of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Prof. Dr. H. R. Asep Kadarohman, M.Si, also came to the public lecture and gave his opening speech to all of the students. He advised that we should master five competencies, named as Five C, to face the disruption era: critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and citizenship. Mr. Kadarohman also gave an emphasized to the citizenship competence because the key to become an excellent Indonesian citizen is having an open-minded view to maintain the integrity of Indonesia. “In this disruptive era, we have to be an open-minded person and have an understanding of multicultural values in Indonesia,” he stressed that.

In this public lecture, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, also known as AHY, shared a lot of motivational experiences and skills for college students to dream big. They must bring it into reality by utilizing technology based on the expertise needed nowadays because human resource is an asset of a country. “When there is a will, there is a way,” he said. He also told about some essential soft skills to face the disruptive era: a good character and the quality to be a leader. We can not stay a follower, and we should be a great leader instead. “Leaders are those who can look far ahead and can motivate their environment to strive to achieve their goals,” he added.

One of the Bidikmisi students from UPI, Fedri Anwari, conveyed his impression after attending the public lecture with AHY. He was motivated to actualize the golden era of Indonesia in the future. “I would like to spread the enthusiasm, especially to all of the college students, to stay persistent in developing our skills and keep on innovating for the nation,” he concluded. (Text and photos: Ayu Intan H.)