With the Indonesian Government focused on strengthening the competitiveness of its workforce, international scholarships present ideal opportunities for people to upskill and meet workforce needs.
In a collaboration between Griffith University's International Business Development Unit, the Griffith Business School's Griffith Asia Institute and the Australian National University in Canberra, 27 participants recently completed 'International Scholarship Collaboration' (ISC) Short Term Award; an Australia Awards in Indonesia Short Course funded by the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
With collaboration as a focus of the program, several partnership development opportunities were built into the program.
One important area of collaboration from the program was the Indonesian Scholarship Collaboration Forum for Overseas Study, which was held at the conclusion of the program in Indonesia in February 2020. The forum consisted of participants from the ISC short course program, key officers from public and private sector organisations and key staff from DFAT and AAI. At the completion of the presentations and the four interactive workshop sessions, all participants from the private sector DFAT, AAI and Griffith staff signed a joint declaration to continue to support the Forum as it continues to develop a collaborative program.
"The course is very interesting and covered a lot of information – but it wasn't just about new knowledge as a nice balance of participants from various scholarship institutions contributed to sharing experiences and supported establishing Indonesia Collaboration Scholarship Forum," said participant, Joko Tulodo, Bureau for Foreign Technical Cooperation at the State Secretariate (Setneg). "This forum, which was my award project, aimed to engage Indonesian scholarship institutions to share challenges and their aims scholarship and work together to solve common problems and to be long-term and sustainable forum".
ISC Team Leader, Alan Atwell reflects on the first International Scholarship Forum as a highlight of the course. "This inaugural forum will continue to bring together Indonesian scholarship programs and other donors when required to continue and further develop their collaboration and harmonisation of their respective programs," said Mr Atwell.
Participants included mid-to-senior level managers from across Indonesia including key Indonesian Government Ministries and agencies that oversee or manage international scholarships for study in Australia. Drawing upon the knowledge and skill they have acquired; alumni are positioned to develop effectively and efficient scholarship programs for the emerging Indonesian workforce.
"I have had the chance to meet other scholarships providers and gain a lot of knowledge and experiences which will be used to adapt the development of the scholarship program in my institution", said Amiruddin Kuba, Project Management Unit (PMU) 5000 Doctor Program at the Ministry of Muslim Affairs (MORA).
The program saw participants study in Brisbane and Canberra for two weeks and was tail ended by pre and post course workshops held in Jakarta. The program covered the whole scholarship cycle with the aim of enhancing scholarship programs across Indonesia by building collaboration between Indonesian education scholarship providers, as well as enhancing international partnerships with Australian education providers.
Participants also had the opportunity to work with a range of government departments and private sector organisations; focusing on areas of coordination between Australia and Indonesia. During their week-long stay in Canberra, participants met with representatives from key Australian government departments including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Finance, Department of Education and the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission; gaining an understanding of these organisations' key initiatives, strengths and strategic focus.
Having engaged with other scholarship providers, participant Boyke Semuel Jufuway from BPSDM Papua Province says the course has developed his understanding of program management best practice for Papuans.
"This wonderful course has provided me with valuable networks. It has been a big reform for Indonesian's institutions to cooperate with each other for our national goals to have a better human resources development," said Mr Jufuway.
Australia Awards are prestigious international Scholarships (postgraduate courses (Long Term Awards) and intensive tailored short courses (Short Term Awards) and Fellowships that offer the next generation of global leaders an opportunity to undertake study, research and professional development opportunities in support of key development and foreign affairs priorities.
To find out more about the Australia Awards, particularly Australia Awards in Indonesia visit Australia Awards.
