IPB University and Amartha Foundation Sign the SPK Amartha STEAM Fellowship Program
IPB University and Amartha Foundation established cooperation through the signing of a Cooperation Agreement Letter (SPK) with the Amartha Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Fellowship Program. The SPK was signed directly by the Vice Rector for Education and Student Affairs, Prof Deni Noviana, and the President Director of the Amartha Foundation, Aria Widyanto, on 29/2 at the Auditorium FMIPA IPB University, IPB Dramaga Campus.
Prof Deni Noviana, appreciated the activity and gave an overview of IPB University students who numbered 36 thousand students with 10.200 of them were scholarship recipients. “Almost a third of IPB University students are scholarship recipients with a value of 110 billion rupiah to be distributed to students,” he explained.
“With the presence of the Amartha Foundation, we will be more familiar with what is core to helping the world of education, especially at IPB University. Since the beginning of the semester, students have passed several stages of debriefing, such as talent mapping and following the seven habits of a highly effective person,” said Prof Deni.
He hopes that this collaboration will have a positive impact and benefit because the presence of the Amartha Foundation is a blessing for IPB University institutions as well as for students.
The signing of the SPK was held in conjunction with a public lecture with the theme “The Future of Job and How We Envision a More Sustainable World” delivered by Aria Widyanto. Aria explained that the Amartha Foundation is a leading microfinance technology platform that has a mission to realize shared prosperity through the development of digital financial infrastructure for the economy.
“Amartha is present as microfinance to connect rural microbusinesses run by strong women with access to affordable capital. Amartha Foundation will open an internship program for IPB University students, which can later be converted into Semester Credit Units (SKS). This is to ensure that the expertise of IPB University students can be accepted in the industrial world,” he said.
He continued, now Amartha is growing as a technology company that builds a microfinance ecosystem so that it is more connected to the rapidly growing digital economy through capital, investment, and payment services. Amartha advances the lower pyramid economy by increasing the competitiveness of micro and small entrepreneurship.
“Currently, there are 2.1 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) assisted by the Amartha Foundation, which has reached 90 thousand villages with 17 trillion in funding. In addition, Amartha Foundation also has initiatives for education through Amartha cendikia for high school students and the Fellowship Program for students at five universities in Indonesia, one of which is IPB University,” said Aria.
Aria said the Amartha Foundation will provide professional mentor assistance for one year. “This is an effort to build networks to improve non-academic abilities. Hopefully, through this educational assistance, students can focus on learning and gain insight and skills outside the campus,” he said. (dh/Lp) (IAAS/FAE)
