Jakarta - Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, Suharti, received an audience from H.E. Prof. Fekadu Beyene Aleka, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to Indonesia.
During the meeting on Thursday (14/12/2023), Ambassador Aleka expressed his interest in increasing cooperation in the fields of higher education, vocational education, culture, and scholarship opportunities for Ethiopian citizens.
On this occasion, Suharti said that the educational transformation being implemented by Indonesia through Merdeka Belajar policy intends to change the education system to be more inclusive, by providing flexibility for schools to determine the most appropriate learning experience and according to student needs.
"With the implementation of Merdeka Belajar, Indonesia is committed to providing opportunities for students to learn basic competencies, become independent lifelong learners and actively participate in the learning process. Through this new policy, many transformative changes have been made to the education ecosystem including improving teacher capacity, pedagogy, curriculum, and evaluation systems," Suharti explained in a statement quoted in Jakarta, Friday (15/12/2023).
In addition, Suharti also said that Indonesia has two scholarships for foreign students. First, the Developing Country Partnership (KNB) scholarship for Bachelor and Master degree programs. A total of 18 participants from Ethiopia participated in the KNB scholarship from 2017 to 2022. The total number of Darmasiswa participants from Ethiopia since 1974-2020 is 23 people. Second, the Darmasiswa Scholarship for non-degree programs where foreign students can learn Indonesian language, arts and culture for a year at universities in Indonesia.
"We invite Ethiopian students to participate in both scholarship programs next year. Besides scholarships, cooperation between universities, both academic and vocational, can be enhanced between the two countries," Suharti said.
Meanwhile, in the field of culture, Indonesia offers cooperation in terms of preserving intangible heritage that has similarities with Indonesian intangible heritage. For example, through joint performance of Angklung and residency of sending Indonesian artists to teach Indonesian cultural arts.
Ambassador Aleka welcomed the scholarship offer from Indonesia and appreciated the transformation of education that is being implemented in Indonesia. In the future, both countries agreed to continue to identify potential cooperation in the fields of education and culture that can be carried out.