- Prabowo met leaders of 24 top UK universities in London to explore stronger education cooperation, including building medical and STEM campuses in Indonesia.
- The government plans to establish 10 new universities focused on medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and science and technology, citing a continued shortage of doctors.
- Officials hope UK partnerships can help ensure quality standards so the new institutions can start admitting students by 2028.
President Prabowo Subianto, in a meeting with 30 professors who lead 24 of the United Kingdom’s leading universities, explored stronger education cooperation through the development of medical and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) campuses in Indonesia.
The president raised the plan during the UK-Indonesia Education Roundtable held in London on Tuesday (Jan. 20), according to Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya in a post on the official Instagram account @sekretariat.kabinet.
“President Prabowo Subianto reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the future of Indonesia’s children at the UK-Indonesia Education Roundtable in London,” Teddy said, as quoted by Antara in a message received in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The roughly two-hour meeting was attended by 30 professors from top universities across the UK.
Among those represented were King’s College London, Imperial College London, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, the London School of Economics, Queen Mary University and other leading institutions.
Speaking to the academics, Prabowo said the Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, sought closer cooperation with UK universities, both through campus development in Indonesia and direct collaboration in the UK.
The president also stressed that sending Indonesian students overseas, alongside building and strengthening domestic higher education institutions, remained a priority, particularly in medicine and STEM fields.
“Sending students abroad and building these universities in Indonesia, especially in medicine and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), are among President Prabowo’s main focuses,” Teddy said.
Prabowo is planning the development of 10 new universities focused on medical education, dentistry, pharmacy, and science and technology, as part of the government’s strategy to meet national demand for doctors and medical personnel.
The head of state said Indonesia still lacked medical workers, producing around 9,000 doctors annually, while demand continued to rise as many doctors approach retirement.
To realize the plan, the government is opening opportunities for cooperation with leading UK universities that already have partnerships with several Indonesian universities.
The cooperation is seen as important to improve education quality and health services, while supporting the target for the new universities to begin enrolling students in 2028, with quality standards and campus environments that are safe and attractive to international faculty members.
Indonesianpost.com | inilah