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More interaction with Norway

Indonesia has 1,800 accredited higher education programmes and 5 million students. The country now wants to increase its interaction with Norway to expand the academic cooperation and exchange.

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Indonesiere og nordmenn samlet på UiAs takterrasse, foto
Indonesians and Norwegians together on the rooftop terrace at the University of Agder. In the middle is Rector Frank Reichert; Indonesian Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education HE Mr Mohamad Nasir; and Indonesia’s ambassador to Norway HE Mr Todung Mulya Lubis.

– We wish to contribute to dialogue between universities in Indonesia and Norway, and I intend to initiate such talks, says HE Mr Mohamad Nasir, Indonesian Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education, who recently visited Norway and the University of Agder.

The delegation was led by Minister Nasir and the ambassador of Indonesia to Norway, HE Mr Todung Mulya Lubis. During their visit to Kristiansand and Grimstad, they met with members of management as well as academic staff from the University of Agder. They also met with representatives from the Research Council of Norway, Innovation Norway, and NOKUT, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education.

– Higher education is a public good in Scandinavia. We would like to learn more about that. Currently, we collaborate extensively with Australia, the United States and Great Britain where higher education is increasingly commercial, says Ainun Naím, Secretary General of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education.

Scholarships

Prior to their roles in government, both the Secretary General and the Minister held high-level positions at the University of Gadjah Mada in Indonesia. The University of Gadjah Mada is one of the oldest and largest institutions of higher education in the country. And last year, the University of Agder celebrated 25 years of cooperation with the University of Gadjah Mada. In recent years a number of students from both countries have participated in exchange programmes.

Over the last six years, the cooperation has been funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the interdisciplinary research collaboration project. 6 Indonesians received their PhD degrees at the University of Agder and around 100 Master students from Indonesia have received scholarships. The University of Agder has sent a number of students to Indonesia, both from the Bachelor programme in Development Studies and from the four-year programme in economics and business administration. The business students who participated in the exchange programme also received training opportunities.

However, there have been few opportunities for young people from Indonesia wanting to study in Norway, since scholarships funded by the Indonesian Government have mainly been granted to students wanting to study at the world’s highest ranked universities.

– Only one of our scholarship programmes focuses on the top universities in the United States, England and Australia. Now we want to consider different options to encourage more student exchange to Norway, says Ainun Naím, and mentions scholarship programmes for students from less developed areas of Indonesia as one option.

– Indonesian and Norwegian universities should get together and develop exchange programmes and then apply to the Ministry for scholarships, says Ismunandar, the Ministry’s Director General for Learning and Student Affairs.

Quality and Trust

Ainun Naím, photo

– We wish to learn more about the Scandinavian model where higher education is a public good, says Ainun Naím, Secretary General of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education.

There are 20,000 accredited education programmes in Indonesia and the meeting provided the delegations with an opportunity for exchange of ideas and practices.

The University Director at the University of Agder, Seunn Smith-Tønnessen, is also Chair of the Board of the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund. In cooperation with Eivind Hovden, Department Director of the Research Council of Norway, and Øystein Lund, Director of the Department of Quality Assurance at NOKUT, she presented the Norwegian student financing model and quality assurance process.

The Vice Rectors, Astrid Birgitte Eggen and Stephen Seiler, explained how this is implemented at the University of Agder.

University-Industry Cooperation

Mohamad Nasir trying on VR-glasses, photo

Bernt Inge Øhrn is CEO of the Mechatronics Innovation Lab. Here, he gives Minister Mohamad Nasir an introduction to the use of modern technology to monitor industrial processes.

After meetings discussing the quality and funding in higher education, the Indonesian delegation visited Campus Grimstad at the University of Agder. The visitors from Indonesia were given a tour of the Mechatronics Innovation Lab, an excellent example of university-industry cooperation, and they were given the opportunity to speak with business representatives.

The talks were led by Kristin Wallevik, dean of the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder. She stressed the importance of trust in forging good collaborative relationships.

– You have much experience cooperating with different sectors. We wish to learn from these experiences and will continue working with industry, education and government. I am very grateful for this opportunity to meet all of you, says Mohamad Nasir, Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education in Indonesia.