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View all search resultsQuestions remain over Prabowo’s new university
President Prabowo Subianto has inaugurated the new governor and deputy governor for the newly formed University of the Republic of Indonesia (URI) despite a lack of clarity and information about the institution.
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Deputy Defense Minister and newly inaugurated University of the Republic of Indonesia (URI) Governor Donny Ermawan Taufanto (right) talks to journalists on Wednesday as Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) professor and URI Deputy Governor Yos Sunitiyoso looks on at the State Palace in Central Jakarta. (Courtesy of Presidential Secretariat/Muchlis Jr)
T
he government recently established the University of the Republic of Indonesia (URI), a move met with doubt amid a lack of clarity surrounding the formation of the higher education institution.
News about the university’s establishment was conveyed on July 22, when President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated Deputy Defense Minister Donny Ermawan Taufanto and Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) professor Yos Sunitiyoso as URI governor and deputy governor, respectively.
The URI, also called the National Civic Education Body, is tasked with producing “Indonesia’s future leaders”, reflecting the President’s “deep commitment to developing human resources, especially Indonesia’s future leaders”, Donny said after his inauguration.
He added the URI would train civil servants and state-owned enterprise (SOE) employees, while also overseeing three state bodies: the State Administration Institute (LAN), a management body overseeing Prabowo’s Garuda Schools program and a higher education management body.
The URI was modeled after France’s Institut national du service public (INSP), Donny said, referring to an elite institution that trained many French senior public officials. It would offer academic programs equivalent to those at other universities, with graduates earning bachelor to doctoral degrees.
While the university’s list of schools has yet to be announced, the URI’s website states it will not offer conventional programs, such as medicine, engineering, law and economics. As of Sunday, the university’s website uri.ac.id could not be accessed.
Donny added the URI’s program would emphasize nationalism and patriotism: “We will educate students to build their character and way of thinking, and equip them with managerial skills.”
