Politap Opens Scholarship Opportunities to Germany

In order to realize the vision of becoming an excellent polytechnic in agriculture and mining, both nationally and internationally, Politeknik Negeri Ketapang (Ketapang State Polytechnic) held a sharing session on strategies for capitalizing on opportunities offered by Germany in human resource development for both degree and non-degree education, held on Tuesday, 5 January 2021, at the Politeknik Negeri Ketapang campus.

This event was held in a hybrid format in accordance with health protocols for Vice Directors, Heads of Departments, Study Program Coordinators, Center Heads, lecturer representatives, technicians, alumni, and Student Executive Board officers, while those who did not receive an in-person invitation could participate online. This Sharing Session featured the CEO of Germany Indonesian Professionals, Alwien Parahita, M.Sc, accompanied by Muhammad Ali, Head of the International Affairs Office of Polnep.

Director of Politeknik Negeri Ketapang, Endang Kusmana, in his opening remarks, stated that improving the quality of human resources would be one of the focal programs and activities in 2021. Endang stated that investing in human resources is the best option to support vocational education development. According to him, Politap's ongoing collaboration with industry, particularly in implementing vocational education, encourages shared equipment usage. According to Endang, the institution can achieve cost savings on equipment investments, reduce electricity load risks, and decrease maintenance burdens including the need for updating equipment; through this policy, human resource investment can be further prioritized. Endang hoped this sharing session would encourage lecturers, educational staff, and alumni to seize opportunities offered by the German government, and Politap will fully support them by preparing matching funds for scholarships to Germany.

Meanwhile, Alwien Parahita spoke about the opportunities offered by Germany across various scientific fields in collaboration with a range of German vocational higher education institutions. His organization will assist Politap lecturers, educational staff, and alumni who wish to continue their studies in Germany, both in degree and non-degree programs. On this occasion, the speaker also shared the benefits and challenges of studying in Germany, including career paths in Germany, study programs offered, and the strengths of German vocational education (ausbildung).

Meanwhile, the second speaker, Muhammad Ali, Head of the International Affairs Office of Polnep, shared his experience in managing international activities, building international networking, finding international cooperation partners, and conducting student internship programs with European countries,

Head of the Center for Learning Development and Education Quality Assurance (P4MP) of Politeknik Negeri Ketapang, Sy. Indra Septiansyah, as the committee chair of this event, conveyed that this Sharing Session was a work program carried out to enhance human resource quality in strengthening the caliber of graduates, entrepreneurship, dual systems, practitioner lecturers, research quality, and problem-based learning to reinforce Politap Developing Vocational Education from Villages. On this occasion, the Head of P4MP also outlined language training plans being prepared to support this program.