President Prabowo asks campuses to participate in city renovation, Minister Brian: Don't just be many in class

Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mendiksaintek) Brian Yuliarto (Teddy Kurniawan VOI)

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto encourages campuses to move from academic towers to more real problems, namely chaotic cities, chaotic spatial planning, and housing that has not been resolved. Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mendiksaintek) Brian Yuliarto said universities were asked to help regional heads through research and studies that could be used immediately.

The directive was conveyed by the President at the Presidential Palace Complex, Monday, April 6. The main target is campuses that have the Faculty of Landscape and Architecture.

"Mr. President gave instructions on how the Faculty of Planology, Architects at each campus could help regional heads," said Brian.

According to the Minister of Education and Technology, cities and regencies will no longer just be ceremonial places of service. The region is asked to become a practice space for students and a research field for lecturers. Local campuses are expected to help local leaders manage urban and spatial planning in their own areas.

What is hoped for is that the campus is not enough to just graduate with a bachelor's degree. His knowledge is also asked to be used to read the increasingly complicated city problems.

Brian said the President's direction did not stop at the spatial layout. The campus was also asked to enter the housing issue, a sector that has always been full of problems from upstream to downstream. The Ministry of Housing will coordinate, while the Ministry of Industry and Technology will provide support from the research side.

"Mr. President also gave instructions on how campuses conduct research, studies, and handle housing problems," said Brian.

When asked whether the study also included amdal, Brian answered that all aspects related to it were included in the part that would be investigated.

This encouragement shows that the government wants the campus to be more useful for the region, not just busy taking care of proposals, journals, and seminars. If this scheme works, the campus will no longer stop as a producer of theories, but will also be used to fix the problems that residents see every day on the street, in settlements, and in the city space.