85 Indonesian Migrant Workers Entrepreneurs At The Malaysian Open University

Illustration of graduation. (ANTARA-Rendhik Andika)

JAKARTA - A total of 85 Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) who work in Malaysia offline and online underwent graduation at the Open University (UT) on Sunday, August 28.

"Today, you have officially obtained a bachelor's degree in accordance with the field of science that is occupied. With this bachelor's degree, you have a new responsibility to make a real contribution to the Indonesian people and also the Indonesian people," said Deputy Chancellor IV of the Open University, Rahmat Budiman PhD, in his graduation remarks.

He added that completing undergraduate education at the UT was not easy, because it was done while becoming PMI abroad. This requires extraordinary struggle accompanied by discipline, and must be good at dividing time.

He said UT would continue to improve educational services for PMI abroad. The COVID-19 pandemic, he continued, has changed the life structure of the community, including in the field of education.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to adapt to carry out various learning activities, because conventional learning such as so far will no longer be possible. We should be proud, because online learning at the forefront of the UT is more than other campuses. UT has been holding distance learning for more than 30 years," he said.

He added that UT will continue to develop distance education by making various innovations and the latest breakthroughs. One of the learning assistance services provided by the UT and the current interest of students is the tutorial webinar.

In addition, he continued, there is also onlone protection innovation, so students can take exams from anywhere.

In the future, UT hopes that more PMIs abroad will continue their higher education. Currently, there are 2,328 UT students in Malaysia.

"This number is still small compared to the Indonesian diaspora in Malaysia, which number more than 25,000 people," he explained.

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono appreciated the migrant workers who graduated from UT. His party believes that education can increase one's social and economic strata.

"A person who graduated from a bachelor's degree has the ability to think, analyze existing problems and has a better ability to solve problems," said Ambassador Hermono.

The best graduate graduate of the UT in Malaysia, namely Aulia Diah Meireni with IPK 3.82 in the English Sastra Study program for Vocational Interests, Monica Renjani with IPK 3.41 in the English Sastra Study Program for Steering Interest and Fiarti Meta Rosela with IPK 3.39 in the Accounting Study program.

Of the 85 graduates, 42 attended offline graduations at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and five attended online graduations from Johor, and 38 people from Indonesia, because the work contract had expired and had returned to the country.