Establishing Education Cooperation with Timor Leste, IPB University Offers Full Scholarship
IPB Dramaga Campus became the venue for an important discussion between Indonesia and Timor Leste regarding cooperation in the field of higher education. The discussion was attended by officials from both countries, including the Rector of IPB University, Prof Arif Satria, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture of Timor Leste.
Puji Mudiana, SP, MA, Director of International Education of IPB University, in the discussion stated that IPB University is ready to expand collaboration with Timor Leste, especially in terms of scholarships.
“IPB University is one of the hosts for the KNB (Partnership for Developing Countries) and TIAS (The Indonesian AID Scholarship) scholarship programs. We hope that this year many prospective students from Timor Leste can study here,” Puji said.
Meanwhile, Prof Arif Satria welcomed the enthusiasm of this cooperation. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of strengthening the relationship between Indonesia and Timor Leste in the world of education.
“We hope that through this cooperation, we can do more outbound and inbound programs with Timor Leste which will open more opportunities for both countries in the fields of education and research,” he said.
The Rector also offered various opportunities for Timor Leste students, including 10 quotas of graduate students with full scholarships.
“We are ready to provide 10 quotas for undergraduate students from Timor Leste, with tuition fees that we will waive. The admission selection can be done directly in Timor Leste,” explained Prof Arif.
On the other hand, this cooperation also includes the potential for research collaboration between IPB University and Timor Leste. Prof Arif added, “We will prioritize Timor Leste as a research partner, especially in agriculture and fisheries, two sectors that are very relevant to the needs of both countries.”
One of the main topics in this discussion was Timor Leste’s plan to build a new polytechnic focusing on fisheries and agriculture.
Dalia Suzana Pereira Mesquita, Advisor to the Partnership and Cooperation Unit from Timor Leste, explained that their country faces various challenges in the food sector and needs to improve the quality of human resources in the fisheries sector.
“We hope that this polytechnic can provide practical hands-on experience to students, so that they can enter the workforce with qualified skills,” said Dalia.
In addition, Julio Aparicio, Executive Director of the Fund for Development and Human Capital (FDCH) said that Timor Leste is designing several educational programs that will be funded by his party.
“We plan to send students to IPB University to study in agriculture, health, and engineering. One of them is a program to train veterinarians, because our need in this sector is very large,” Julio explained. (IAAS/RMH)
