US, Indonesia Strengthen Ties in Higher Education Sector

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States and the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (RISTEK DIKTI) held an event on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, to celebrate advancements in higher education in Indonesia over the past five years.

Approximately 150 people attended the event including Ministry's director general of institutional development Dr. Patdono Suwignjo, United States Charge d'Affaires Brian McFeeters, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission director Erin McKee.

Over the last five years, USAID's US$19 million Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) project has worked in partnership with RISTEK DIKTI to build capacity and improve performance of 50 Indonesian higher education institutions across the country. USAID HELM supported these institutions in building skills in such areas as leadership, administration, financial management, quality assurance, and research, the ultimate goal to provide a world-class, quality education for Indonesian students.

"It is essential to empower higher education institutions to create systems that support access to resources, networks, professional development, and management. These systems are critical to improving the quality of higher education in Indonesia,"Patdono said in a press release received by Tempo on Wednesday, September 21, 2016.

McFeeters said that the changing economic landscape in Indonesia requires an educated and skilled workforce that is well-adapted to a knowledge-based economy.

"The United States is proud to partner with the Government of Indonesia in initiatives ranging from innovative research, expanding access to high quality basic and vocational education, to strengthening the higher education system," Mcfeeters added.

In the period of 2011-2016, USAID HELM has crafted programs attaining a number of achievements, including helping 1,561 study programs in universities to be accredited with ranking A or B, based on the data published by the National Higher Education Accreditation Body (BAN-PT).

"USAID is honored to be able to hand over the USAID HELM achievements to our Government of Indonesia partners today. We hope our investment over the past five years have further empowered higher education institutions to provide students with a world-class education," said USAID mission director Erin McKee.

FERY ANDRIANSYAH