The year 2020 is a period that will significantly impact the landscape of educational institutions in Indonesia. Amid various changes in the educational landscape, the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing (FKKMK) UGM launched two books at once. The two books launched entitled “Merdeka Belajar: Suara dari FKKMK UGM” and “Peran FKKMK UGM dalam Penanganan Pandemi Covid-19 di Indonesia“.
The online launch on Thursday (27/8) was marked by submitting the two books from the Dean of FKKMK UGM, Prof. dr. Ova Emilia, M.Med.Ed., SpOG(K)., PhD., to the Director of Learning and Student Affairs, Prof. dr. Aris Junaidi, Ph.D. UGM Rector, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng., IPU, ASEAN Eng., other university leaders, and deans at UGM also attended the event.
Ova Emilia welcomed the launch of this book and considered it essential following the context we are currently facing. She assessed that 2020 was indeed a particular year because the events at the beginning of the year disrupted educational institutions, including FKKMK UGM.
Ova said that the ‘Merdeka Belajar – Kampus Merdeka’ policy launched by the Ministry of Education and Culture was to bridge the improvement of students’ insight and competence in facing the work field and future aspirations. A generation that is responsive, alert, and ready to meet the challenges of the times with solid competence and cultural roots is the future goal.
“Where ‘independence’ in the frame of creativity and innovation is an important key to the development of the nation’s next generation. “This policy that has been rolled out certainly raises various interpretations and opinions from various parties, one of which is from the academic community of FKKMK UGM,” she said.
According to her, the Covid-19 pandemic that hit Indonesia as a national disaster also affected the learning process and all Tridarma activities of FKKMK UGM. To respond to these conditions, FKKMK UGM formed a Covid-19 task force team (Covid-19 Task Force).
The FKKMK UGM Covid-19 Task Force consists of 11 coordinators in charge of disease control (epidemiology), data and information, health promotion, laboratory diagnostics, academic and student affairs, research and innovation, knowledge management, liaison officers, services, logistics, and volunteers. Therefore, FKKMK UGM seeks to frame the various narratives of the two events in two books.
“So, there are 11 areas that we have done so far in the last six months. Therefore, now FKKMK UGM is framing the narrative of these efforts in the two books,” she explained.
Merdeka Belajar book contains a variety of narrative opinions from students, lecturers, researchers, and clinicians regarding their views and expectations regarding the implementation of Merdeka Belajar. Because, in the future, learning will no longer be limited, fragmented but can be present anywhere, anytime.
“While the second book is a summary, of course, as documentation of evidence of accountability and all partners in responding to this pandemic. We hope that the two books can provide intake, strengthen solidarity, coordination, transparency, as well as learning documents in dealing with pandemic situations,” she explained.
Welcoming the book’s launch, the UGM Rector hopes that the two books can benefit all parties facing the Ministry of Education and Culture policies, especially regarding Merdeka Belajar and the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic. The Merdeka Belajar, Kampus Merdeka policy has been launched. However, it must be implemented in an appropriate version for each field.
“What is clear is that we take the essence of Merdeka Belajar, Kampus Merdeka. We know that its implementation must also be following our respective policies. Regarding the content of Merdeka Belajar, UGM has been declared as PTBH or PTNBH that makes UGM has the freedoms, whether it is related to financial governance, establishing, and closing study programs, and various other things that we can do,” he said.
Meanwhile, related to learning outside the classroom, said the Rector, UGM has been implementing it for a long time. There are Student Community Services, student exchange, industrial cooperation, intention, practical work, collaboration with partners, sending students, and others.
Nevertheless, there are still many things to be done, including how to provide opportunities for students to learn not only from professors, lecturers and using existing facilities on campus but also learning from anyone, anywhere, and encouraging lecturers as facilitators and motivators. The principle of the primary competence of a study program is learning outcome, and learning must be the main thing.
“Then enrichment from others will increase the knowledge and competence of our students. Regarding the role of FKKMK in dealing with covid, we also appreciate that it will be an extraordinary historical record because the handling of the pandemic has never existed before. By keeping a record of what has been done, the events that occurred would become lessons for future generations,” said the Rector.
Director of Learning and Student Affairs, Prof. dr. Aris Junaidi, Ph.D., said that the pandemic situation had presented both challenges and opportunities. The Ministry of Education and Culture, especially the Directorate General of Higher Education, has also transformed higher education in Indonesia. In a short time, there has been a transformation in the use of technology with online learning, which is parallel to the Merdeka Belajar, Kampus Merdeka policy.
“The Ministry of Education and Culture carries out proactive, adaptive, and mutual cooperation principles in facing the double challenge of changing national education policy movements and handling the Covid-19 pandemic emergency,” he said.
Aris said that the seeds of creativity and innovation in the tridharma of higher education are also growing and sprouting during this pandemic. Various proactive policies carried out by the Directorate General of Higher Education include supporting and facilitating medical faculties, state university hospitals to become referral hospitals, and Covid-19 laboratories.
“Through this facility, medical faculty laboratories and state universities can serve up to 8,500 samples every day, so more than 50 percent of national facilities as of early June, and also during this Covid-19 pandemic. More than 15 thousand students in the health sector are helping to become the Ministry of Education and Culture’s national Covid-19 volunteers as RECON, National Covid-19 Volunteer,” he said.
Regarding the launch of these two books, he appreciated the FKKMK UGM academic community for producing these two essential documents.
“It is a model for delivering good news from the medical faculty and other study programs so that it can become an encyclopedia of higher education experiences in the transformation of higher education in Indonesia,” he concluded.
