UNS – The Rector of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Prof. Jamal Wiwoho deployed 1,738 students and 77 Supervisors to follow a Community Service Program (KKN) for the period January-February 2020, the ceremony was held in front of dr. Prakoso building UNS, Tuesday (14/01/2020). A total of 1,738 students and supervisors will be deployed to 173 villages, 55 Sub-Districts, 32 Districts, in 8 Provinces and 1 overseas.
During the occasion, Prof. Jamal retold a story for the students. There was an interesting story from Butet Manurung who establish “Sekolah Rimba” for tribal children in the forest. Once upon a time, there was a kid who died from snakebite in the woods. This happened because the shaman and herbalist who was an expert in handling snakebite have died. There were no more shamans and herbalists whose knowledge was taught from generation to generation. How could this happen? It was because the school which located on the edge of the forest did not teach the kids how to save their life from snakebites. The teachers came from other areas and do not understand the local wisdom in the village. The teachers teach something that is not applicable and not needed in the student’s daily life.
“Therefore, I have a message for the students and especially to the supervisors, this is the right occasion to learn about the local wisdom of a certain region through direct observation. Therefore, we can continue providing assistance and innovation for them based on their local wisdom,” Prof. Jamal said to https://uns.ac.id/id/.
Prof. Jamal also advised, especially to the students, to help the community at the community service site sincerely, everything delivered from the heart will reach the heart. “One of them is our future, in their village, there is our future. Prove to them that you are a millennial that thinks and take action through a smart and strategic way, without putting aside the virtue and conscience. Lend your alma mater jacket to them for 45 days, maybe they always dreamed to be able to study in college like you,” Prof. Jamal added.
On this occasion, the Commander of Korem 074/Warastratama Surakarta, Brigadier General TNI Rafael Granada Baay, also attended the ceremony and delivered a remark. General Rafael Granada Baay mentioned that the students who are about to get deployed for the community program are one of human resource who masters the technology and science, as well as has a strong and solid insight of Indonesian nationalism. It is necessary that students always honed and developed their abilities so that they become more professional and qualified.
“Community service program for students is one of the efforts to hone and develop student’s abilities. It is a program designed to improve students’ comprehension of science and technology. Have a wonderful community service program, may you and your program can be useful for the community and it can bring a solution to the existing problems faced by the community,” General Rafael Granada Baay said.
Meanwhile, the Head of Institute for Research and Community Engagement (LPPM) UNS, Prof. Okid Parama Astirin, said that there are 18 topics/themes for this period of community service. Among them are Optimization of Village Potentials and BUMDes Development; Utilization and Management of Forest Products; Empowerment of the Creative Economy and Village MSMEs; Village’s Local Economic Empowerment, Community Empowerment, and Creative Economy; Development of Village’s Information Systems (SID); Eradication of Poverty and Development of Child-Friendly Region; Improvement of Creative Economy and Tourism; Capacity Building for Village Government, and other themes.
“As a millennial, a special approach to the society that corresponds to technological advances is needed. By carrying out those themes, UNS is expected to continuously contribute to the community. One of the programs required by the Rector of UNS is tree planting at the community service location, at least five trees for each student, they are also required to capture the moment and upload it on social media,” Prof. Okid said. Humas UNS/Ratri