Politap PKKMB Launches New Students Enter the Village Program

On Monday, 30 August  2021, held at the Tax Center Hall of Politeknik Negeri Ketapang (Ketapang State Polytechnic), the Introduction to Campus Life for New Students (PKKMB) was  officially opened by the Director of  Politeknik Negeri Ketapang. The PKKMB activities were attended by 512 participants across eight (8) study programs and held from 30 August  to 3 September 2021. The PKKMB was conducted in a hybrid format, with online sessions taking place on 30–31 August 2021 and student deployments to villages through "Maba Masuk Desa" (New Students Enter the Village) on 1–3 September 2021.

In his opening remarks for the Introduction to Campus Life for New Students (PKKMB), Endang Kusmana, Director of Politap, stated that the 2021/2022 Academic Year PKKMB took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting efforts to innovate the orientation activities by holding both online and offline sessions while strictly applying health protocols. According to Endang, in line with the Politap Builds Vocational Education from Villages program, Politap strived to deploy new students to villages. This initiative is expected to serve as an entry point for subsequent follow-up programs, including advanced PKKMB, Kampus Merdeka, internships, and final project research.

The online sessions featured public lectures as well as introductory profiles of Politap and its study programs. The public lectures presented keynote speakers including Dr. Ir. H. Suprayoga Hadi, MSP (Deputy for Human Development Policy Support and Development Equity of the Secretariat of the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia) on the topic of "The Importance of Character-Driven Students in Village Development"; the Commander of Kodam XII/Tanjungpura represented by the Deputy Assistant for Territorial Affairs on the topic of "Shaping Resilient Students for National Defense"; and Prof. Haryono Umar (Former KPK Commissioner & former Inspector General of the Ministry of Education and Culture) on fostering an anti-corruption spirit among students. The online sessions were also complemented by informational briefings from the Vice Directors, Heads of Department, and Study Program Coordinators.

Vice Director for Student Affairs Epriyandi added that the PKKMB activities from the third to the fifth day were conducted by deploying new students into villages in collaboration with International Animal Rescue (IAR), targeting villages that have been mentored by and partnered with IAR so that these activities can continue sustainably. The targeted locations were villages in Ketapang Regency, namely Kuala Satong, Sungai Putri, Tanjung Baik Budi, Sungai Besar, Sungai Awan Kiri, Pematang Gadong, Sukamaju, and Tempurukan,  as well as Gunung Sembilan and Pampang Seribu villages in North Kayong Regency. According to Epri, several target locations were established within each village so that activities could adhere to health protocols, limiting group sizes to a maximum of  15–20 new students per location while taking students' home villages into consideration. The New Students Enter the Village program engaged new students in cataloging village challenges and conducting community service at beaches, village halls, places of worship, and public amenities, with each group guided by mentors consisting of lecturers, technicians, senior students, and facilitators from International Animal Rescue (IAR).