There are thousands of UGM academicians, and the public participated in the ceremony of National Education Day on Saturday (2/5). The ceremony was held at the UGM Hall yard. There were also supports from technical teams, such as the IT team, the host, flag raisers, the 1945 Constitution reader, and the prayer. Meanwhile, the university leaders and all ceremony participants attended the ceremony online from their respective residences, through teleconferencing applications or by watching live shows on Youtube.
“Let us be thankful for our health, strength, and opportunity. We are thankful for still being able to attend a great momentum of the ceremony of the 2020 National Education Day in a solemn and loving atmosphere in the homeland, Nation, and the Republic of Indonesia. Although we know that we are currently holding a ceremony in our own place and participate online,” said the UGM Chancellor, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M. Eng., D. Eng., IPU., ASEAN Eng.
On the celebration of this year’s National Education Day, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture raised the theme “Learning from Covid-19”. Panut said that this theme was very relevant because the Covid-19 pandemic had given a shock, which made the world’s citizens stuttered in pleading and jolting awareness that in various fields of life, people were not fully prepared to take emergency response actions.
“There should be many things we can learn from this condition to improve the quality and degree of our lives from this pandemic,” he said.
He said Indonesia is currently suffering from a severe humanitarian disaster. The government has stated that in a complicated situation, there will be an increase in the number of poverty to 3.78 million people, with millions of workers experiencing termination of employment relations.
This pandemic immediately hit the economic, industrial, and educational sectors. UGM itself currently must continue to improve its online learning methods, even though this system has been prepared and developed massively and structured since 2004.
“In carrying out the task of educating the Nation’s children, we must continually make adjustments and innovations in the learning process. We do curriculum relaxation, review existing academic regulations, and continue to develop MOOCs,” the Chancellor said.
The Chancellor encouraged ceremony participants to keep following an appeal on conducting physical distancing. Moreover, he also urged the society to have a healthy lifestyle and to be actively involved in educating the community regarding these steps.
All components of the Nation, he explained, must unite energy and resources to strengthen efforts against Covid-19. With togetherness, unity, and unity of all elements of the Nation, he believes that Indonesian people can learn together through this difficult situation and become a better human being and a more resilient nation.
“Let us continue to join hands for the glory of the country in the spirit of National Education Day to advance the nation and state of Indonesia, lifelong learning, continuous innovation, and improve the self-quality of to develop the country,” he concluded.
Author: Gloria
Photo: Firsto
Translator: Natasa A