UNS — Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT) of the Republic of Indonesia symbolically send-off the participants of Students Community Service Program (KKN) Thematic Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta for Rural Development on Tuesday (18/1/2022). On this occasion, the Ministry of Villages and PDTT RI, Dr. (HC) Drs. A. Halim Iskandar, M.Pd., attended the ceremony through the Zoom Cloud Meeting for UNS KKN Thematic for Rural Development participants in February-July 2022.
In his opening remark, the Minister stated that KKN is a means for students to serve the community and provide an opportunity for students to practice their learning outcomes on the campus as a practical implementation that benefits the local people. He observes that the strength of the educational institution is on their benefits for the community. Higher Education Tri Dharma must be implemented in villages with diverse typologies to detect real issues in the rural areas. The Minister also stated that research needs to be expanded to create applied technology.
“Applied technology is expected to improve rural commodities and rural people’s productivity,” he stated.
Kemendes PDTT formed a forum for universities for villages named Pertides to accelerate village development. The Minister explained that Pertides is a means for a campus in assisting, improving human resources quality, and rural economy to grow evenly. In this effort, Pertides also ensure the sustainability of rural culture. Gus Halim, the Minister, stated that KKN could find relevance, and university students could act as an innovator that distributes the university’s excellence to the local people. KKN students also could act as the executors of the university’s inventions into applied technology that benefits local people.
“KKN should not only be defined as a mechanical and static activity. Or even only to meet credit requirements,” Gus Halim stated.
He reminded the importance of KKN for universities to find the most effective communication strategies and technical adaptation to ensure that university invention could be accepted by local people. Students will find various conditions in their location that require adaptation both for social life and their learning outcomes. For the Minister, KKN is a hope for changes for the local people following the 18 Rural SDGs.
“We have a high expectation that UNS KKN Thematic could support the acceleration of rural development to achieve 18 Rural SDGs,” he hoped.
The ceremony was followed by a send-off ceremony by the Rector of UNS, Prof. Dr. Jamal Wiwoho, S.H., M.Hum. Humas UNS
Reporter: Rangga Pangestu Adji
Editor: Dwi Hastuti