Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) launched the 2023 Merdeka Entrepreneurship (WMK) program at the UGM Faculty of Economics and Business on Friday (August 18), attended by 251 participants from 62 universities across the country.
The Chair of the 2023 Merdeka Entrepreneurship at UGM, Dr. Hempri Suyatna, considered the 2023 program exceptional because participants came from various regions in Indonesia.
“76% are from Java, 15% from Sumatra, and 9% from Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku. They come from universities such as Sam Ratulangi, Pattimura, Halu Oleo, Payakumbuh, Muhammadiyah Cirebon, Amikom, UMY, and UNY,” he said.
Dr. Suyatna explained that activities at UGM will follow the guidelines from the government, including pre-immersion, immersion, and post-immersion phases. Pre-immersion activities will occur until September 14, 2023, and the subsequent stages will end in December 2023.
“At the beginning, we will hold an outbound for all participants, and through this, we hope that familiarity, solidarity, and social capital will emerge among the participants,” he explained.
Dr. Suyatna explained that Merdeka Entrepreneurship at UGM focuses on anticipating the future challenges of entrepreneurship. Various fields that will be explored include agribusiness, digital economics, manufacturing, and technological engineering.
The speakers who will deliver materials include representatives from Stechoq, Professor Purwo Santoso, Kesatriaan Foundation, and PT Widodo Makmur.
“Various issues that concern us include stunting and waste, which are currently critical issues in Yogyakarta. We hope to solve these problems for Yogyakarta and the surrounding areas,” Dr. Suyatna said.
“Health issues, renewable energy, humanities, culture, services, and the creative industry can also be explored.”
Dr. Nila Tristiarini, the Central Campus Merdeka Entrepreneurship representative, expressed her appreciation for UGM’s organization of the Merdeka Entrepreneurship program. The participation of 62 universities in the program at UGM was considered exceptional.
She stated that UGM is one of Indonesia’s 34 universities implementing the Merdeka Entrepreneurship. This year, a total of 12,394 students participating in the program nationally, and 251 students participated in UGM.
“It’s incredible, and hopefully, it will continue to grow,” she said.
Similar to previous years, three basic concepts are applied in all universities in Indonesia implementing the program. These three basic concepts are the pre-immersion, immersion, and post-immersion phases.
“In the pre-immersion phase, participants will learn about how to improve their entrepreneurial mindset, how to acquire basic entrepreneurial skills, and in the immersion phase, they will have the opportunity to meet practitioners and experts who will encourage the development of their competencies,” she explained.
Participants will gain real-life experience in the immersion phase by collaborating with businesses and the industrial sector (SMEs). In this phase, students are expected not only to learn the theory and master basic skills but also to understand how to operate a business based on business principles.
“Talking about theory and basic skills without understanding the basic business principles would be theoretical. Here, students will be guided to learn entrepreneurial practices according to business principles. If I’m not mistaken, UGM requires the principle of involving technology to create a prototype,” she explained.
In the post-immersion phase, participants will be introduced to marketing. This involves introducing products to the market through expos, exhibitions, and investor engagement, where investors evaluate the products created by the students.
The Merdeka Entrepreneurship is part of Indonesia’s MBKM initiative (Freedom to Learn, Independent Campus). This program allows students to learn and develop themselves to become aspiring entrepreneurs through activities beyond formal education.
For this year’s implementation, participants are expected to become young entrepreneurs capable of innovating to address social issues, such as stunting, poverty, waste problems, and boost tourism potential.
Director of Student Affairs, Dr. Sindung Tjahyadi, believes students participating in the program are fortunate because such a program did not exist when he was a student. Dr. Tjahyadi himself became an entrepreneur after graduating from the Faculty of Philosophy.
Partnering with English Language and Nuclear Engineering graduates, he ventured into the marble and onyx stone business. With minimal or no knowledge, he believes that logical scientific reasoning can still drive business.
“It worked for me. We finally found a pattern after observing and comparing,” the director said.
Dr. Tjahyadi hopes with the guidance of experts and field supervisors, most of the 251 participants will become entrepreneurs. Through accumulated and elaborated experience, he hopes that participants will possess competencies beyond what they have learned.
“Our tracer indicates that a comparatively small proportion of graduates find employment in their study subjects. We all hope that no one leaves school with empty hands,” he concluded.
Author: Agung Nugroho