Located in the hotel D’Anaya Bogor, Indonesia, the head of the Office of International Affairs State Islamic University (UIN) Raden Fatah Palembang together with the Head of the Perguruan Tinggi Keagamaan Islam Negeri (PTKIN) International Office throughout Indonesia attended the Coordination Meeting for PTKIN Cooperation at the Directorate of Higher Education for Islamic Religion, Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. Together with nearly 31 participants from all over Indonesia, this meeting especially improves the technical guidelines for developing cooperation, particularly how we manage the arrival and admission of foreign students in Indonesia.

Director of Diktis, Prof. Suyitno, first conveyed directions and points regarding the intended technical instructions and hoped that the office of International Affairs from each campus in Indonesia would become a “campus window” as the leading sector in the field of cooperation. Second, the Director of Diktis conveyed that in relation to the management of foreign students, there is a need for technical guidance based on a mixture of online and physical learning. In his remarks, Prof. Suyitno emphasized the knowledge and mastery of Indonesian for foreign speakers as signs and guarantees of the certainty of academic ability to study in Indonesia.

The latest policy from the Ministry of Religious Affairs is the highlighting of the need for Islamic insight for foreign students. The Director of Diktis’ speech was continued by opening the coordination meeting officially. Furthermore, the head of sub-Directorate of Institution and Cooperation PTKIN (Adib Abdushomad, PhD) delivered material on the need to internationalize PTKIN institution through networking and collaboration. We need space to network and also space to work together. If you want to invite foreign students, then Adib Abdushomad, PhD said that at least we have world-class education and learning facilities, opportunities to work / gain experience while studying, scholarships, clear entry processes, affordable living costs and experience at university. The hope is, in 2022 a new scheme can be prepared to provide scholarships for foreign students in the PTKIN environment.

The Head of Sub-Directorate of Institution and Cooperation continued that the importance of collaboration is in order to invite and encourage foreign students who have good academic qualifications to study in Indonesia, provide opportunities for student exchanges and staff exchanges from Indonesia abroad, and understand the academic culture better. To prepare interest and accept foreign students, at least the University must prepare an international standard International Cooperation office, adequate learning facilities, accommodation, scholarships, and a high-quality process.             Therefore, to recruit these international students, Adib Abdushomad, PhD suggested working with universities abroad, holding exhibitions, using social media platforms and websites that provide information in at least Arabic, English and Mandarin. This coordination meeting lasts three days and it is hoped that the final draft results can be used as a guide in PTKIN (SHA).