The South Barito Regency government has established tri-dharma cooperation with Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM).
The cooperation in education, research, and community service was signed by UGM’s Rector, Professor Ova Emilia, and the Acting Regent of South Barito, Dr. Deddy Winarwan, who is also the Director of Performance Evaluation and Regional Capacity Building at the Directorate General of Regional Autonomy, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Simultaneously, a cooperation agreement was also signed between the South Barito Regency Civil Service and Human Resources Development Agency and the UGM Center for Population and Policy Studies.
The cooperation aims to improve the capacity of civil servants and village heads in South Barito through capacity building. Markani, the Head of the South Barito Regency Human Resources Development Agency, and Dr. Pande Made Kutanegara from the UGM Center for Population and Policy Studies signed the agreement.
In his remarks, the Acting Regent of South Barito admitted that he inherited a significant amount of work after being appointed. He mentioned being left with issues from the previous regent, including performance-related matters, family issues, and project involvement.
As a result, many aspects needed improvement. According to him, the most challenging aspect was related to the performance results of South Barito Regency, which ranked 364 out of 415 regencies in Indonesia. He also inherited a relatively high poverty rate in the Regency.
“Alhamdulillah, within one year of our appointment, we were summoned by the Vice President a few months later to be awarded a certificate of recognition as one of the 82 Regents in Indonesia who managed to reduce poverty,” he said in the UGM Rector’s Office, on Thursday (Apr. 18).
The acting regent mentioned that many students drop out of South Barito. Additionally, many high school graduates are unemployed. Therefore, the South Barito Regency government has allocated scholarships to enable more students to continue their studies.
According to him, all these efforts aim to improve the human resources capacity in South Barito Regency. The regency government invites UGM professors, lecturers, and students to contribute to these efforts.
“I am very interested in the affirmative action program for new students. I believe this program provides an opportunity to send our children to UGM because, despite everything, we feel a lack when compared directly with those in Java,” he shared.
“However, we hope the affirmative action follows the existing rules, such as when they do not meet the requirements for admission to the Faculty of Medicine, that’s okay. We can understand.”
Rector Ova Emilia expressed her delight in collaborating with South Barito Regency. She also expressed pride in the achievements of the Acting Regent and his team and hoped that they would continue to bring progress to South Barito Regency.
According to the rector, all these advancements benefit the people of South Barito Regency. She sees this collaboration as an important step for South Barito Regency and for UGM to contribute more to development in various regions.
“I am proud because the Acting Regent of South Barito is also an alumnus of UGM. What was taught by the teachers here has borne fruit. This shows that UGM, as a leading university, always hopes that what is gained on this campus can be transferred to all corners of the country,” she said.
The rector hopes that the Community Service Program (KKN) carried out so far will reach all regions in Indonesia, including the South Barito Regency. KKN, which began in 1970, has greatly benefited the community.
Many students’ works have been recorded through this program, leading to many regional governments asking students to carry out KKN in their areas. Through KKN, students greet the people below and become a driving force for progress in rural areas.
“For now, we are arranging it by focusing on two areas in KKN: food self-sufficiency and climate change. So I think these two main points are something that we must fight for together,” she added.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Photographer: Firsto