SDGS 4: Quality Education | SDGS 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDGS 17: Partnership for the Goals

Yogyakarta, 05 February 2024 – Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) opens opportunities for students to broaden their horizons and hone their skills outside the classroom. This was proven by the students of Arabic Literature at Gadjah Mada University who had participated in internships at various institutions, such as the DIY Regional Police, PT KAI Daop 6 Yogyakarta, and the Sleman Religious Court.

During the internship, students had the opportunity to develop various soft skills and hard skills, such as communication skills, creative thinking, writing, problem solving, and content creation. This experience helped them to be better prepared to enter the world of work and answer current industry needs.

At the DIY Regional Police, students had the opportunity to study in the PSDM section to learn on preparing quality and highly competitive human resources. At PT KAI Daop 6 Yogyakarta, students were placed in the public relations department who studied news writing, news reporting and social media content creation. Meanwhile, at the Sleman Religious Court, students were placed in the service section where they learned how to communicate with litigants and how to mediate to reach a peaceful solution.

Through the MBKM program, students had the opportunity to develop themselves and prepare themselves to face the world of work. Through internships at various institutions, they gained hands-on experience and learned about various fields. With this, it is hoped that students will become qualified and highly competitive graduates.

SDGs 4: Quality education | SDGs 8: Decent work and economic growth | SDGs 12: Responsible consumption and production | SDGs 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions | SDGs 17: Partnerships for the goals

27^th of January 2024 – The “Infinite Learning – Web Development” program was designed to facilitate access to the quality education by providing learning experiences that reflect the actual situation in the industry. By encouraging participants to form challenge groups, this program not only aimed to produce developers with technical skills, but also encouraged collaboration and active participation in various industrial projects. Through the application of design thinking and SCRUM project management concepts, this program implicitly promoted responsible consumption and production practices, while forming individuals with adaptative, collaborative and communicative skills.

Intensive mentoring by two types of mentors, individual mentors and group mentors, played an important role in creating an inclusive and sustainable learning environment. With a focus on building individual skills, individual mentors provided guidance on participants’ performance, skills, self-motivation, and learning strategies. Meanwhile, the group mentor focused on group performance, research guidance, challenge project management, and application development. These two types of mentors worked together to build a strong partnership between mentor and participant, creating an environment that supports participants in facing the complex challenges of the future in the web development industry.

SDGs 1: No poverty | SDGs 3: Good health and well-being | SDGs 4: Quality education | SDGs 8: Decent work and economic growth | SDGs 17: Partnerships for the goals

Yogyakarta, 27^th of January 2024 – In order to practice knowledge and serve society, several students of the Arabic Literature Study Program, Department of Language and Literature, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, had completed an internship program at Dompet Dhuafa. This internship program was an opportunity for students to go directly into the field and contribute to various community empowerment programs initiated by Dompet Dhuafa.

Dompet Dhuafa’s agenda which involved interns included collecting and processing poverty data, distributing aid to people in need, education about health, economic empowerment, and educational outreach. Internship students were also provided with experience in collecting donations and finding donors to support Dompet Dhuafa programs.

The internship program at Dompet Dhuafa was a concrete example of the implementation of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education, namely education, research and community service. With this program, it was hoped that UGM Arabic Literature students can become agents of social change who were competent, have integrity and care for others.

It feels different when we step into things beyond our abilities, it feels different when literature students take part in hackathon competitions, and it is still different when women enter business and even lead. This was what actually wanted to be achieved in the 2023 UNESCO-UNITWIN Advanced Workshop & Hackathon program at Sookmyung Women’s University (SMU), Seoul, South Korea in November-December 2023. Bulan Churniati, an English Literature student at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, had never expected that this program would enable her to compete on the international stage and at the same time experience traveling abroad for the first time.

This was not a trivial journey, this program required us to first be selected from hundreds of internal university students, then took part in training and whoever was the best would represent Gadjah Mada University at the international level later. It was truly an honor that Bulan must be proud of to have had this extraordinary experience, even though it might be a bit of a burden to show her best as a representative of the best university in Indonesia. The reason was, there were many creative ideas from competing countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia—from ideas for making audiobooks, applications to reduce fast fashion, health, and many more. However, the student topic given required the participants to hold their heads high by discussing MSME issues which certainly produced results.

Before taking part in this training, Bulan admitted that she was still too afraid to start her own business and only focused on the theoretical enthusiasm she initiated – PKM-K about entrepreneurship, business case and business plan competitions, and creating content for other people’s MSMEs. Until APWINC came along and gave her lots of ideas, relationships and the courage to start and develop her own online shop, yes, a small step but the most meaningful in 2023. “Thank you for the support of PIKA UGM as a companion and provider of all information, FIB UGM as a beloved faculty, and UNESCO for its extraordinary program, as well as all parties involved. The word ‘finished’ will not stop my passion, but will make me thirstier to learn—wait for me here to share more stories.” said Bulan Churniati.

SDGs 4: Quality Education

Banda Neira has become a trending destination, drawing the attention from both local and international visitors. For Sherina, an Archaeology student at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, UGM, wo conducted her Community Service Program (KKN) on the island, Banda Neira is not just a tourist spot but a personal heaven. Belgica Fort, one of its popular icons, holds a special place in her heart. Sherina is fascinated by the fact that every arranged stone on the island holds a story and a mystery from the past waiting to be unraveled. Sherina said, “Many people do not know much about this fort, or they only know it from the backside of the one thousand rupiah banknote, without detailed explanations. What was the fort used for in the past? What were the functions of each room? What is the significance of its five sides? Was it for surveillance or other purposes?”

As an archaeology enthusiast, Sherina discovered various tangible and intangible remains in Banda Neira, particularly within the fort. She also engaged in discussions with the rector of Banda Neira University who shared their interest in historical remains. Interestingly, the historical remains spread across Banda Neira span various eras, as she mentioned, “Banda Neira is full of colonial remains, and as a person who is interested in colonial heritage, Banda Neira is like a heaven. However, the remains there are not limited to the colonial era as I visited a museum called ‘Rumah Budaya,’ where I found artefacts from the prehistoric era, such as thorns and fish bones.”

Sherina’s journey was beyond textbooks and classroom, delving into the secrets of history and the intricacies of Banda Neira. In the end, Sherina’s adventure in Banda Neira reflected the profound impact of hands-on experiences in fostering a deeper appreciation for history and cultural heritage. Through this writing, she invited fellow students to explore untouched territories and preserve the history embedded in our cultural heritage.

Photo 1: Banda Neira