UNS — The Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta was, again, become the host of the Pre-Departure Orientation of Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) on Monday (30/8/2021). The preparation was held for the 176 student representatives who prepare to be deployed to the United Kingdom (UK). Previously, UNS was selected to be the Pre-Departure preparation for IISMA students to the Netherlands. This time around, the students will be deployed to ten universities in the UK, namely, Newcastle University, The University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde, University of Sussex, University of Birmingham, University of Glasgow, University of Leeds, University of York, University of Leicester, and Lancaster University.
IISMA is one of the programs under the Merdeka Belajar-Kampus Merdeka Program, which provides learning opportunities in global universities. This preparation was conducted in conjunction with the pre-departure program for those leaving for Poland (25 students) and Italy (64 students).
In his welcoming remark, the Rector of UNS, Prof. Jamal Wiwoho congratulate and expressed his admiration for the IISMA awardee. The awardee will join the student exchange program in the UK for one semester. “Other than studying, the awardee must open their mind to mingle with other students from numerous countries,” Prof. Jamal states.
Meanwhile, the Educational and Cultural Attache of the Indonesian Embassy in London, Dr. Muhammad Arif Rokhman hopes that the IISMA awardee can adapt to the learning pattern in the UK. “Adaptation is crucial to achieving satisfactory results during this one semester of learning. We hope the students will maintain intensive communication with the Indonesian Embassy in London and the Indonesia Student Association in their respective universities,” Dr. Arif wishes.
One of the IISMA awardees from UNS, Anis Sofia Harjanti, expresses her gratitude for this achievement. The strenuous process starts with an internal selection in UNS, followed by a national selection, preparing the required documents, and deployment in September. Anis also asks for blessings so that she can follow the lecture well and return to Indonesia healthily.
At the end of the meeting, Junaidi, as the Head of Subpokja IISMA, advised students always to take care of their health either before they departed, during their trip, and after arriving in the UK. Students are suggested to implement health protocol to avoid Covid-19 infection. Even though the UK has no longer implement the mask usage policy in public spaces, for this program, UNS will deploy 1 (one) student to Lancaster University, 2 (two) students to Newcastle University, and 1 (one) student to the University of Edinburgh. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti