Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) Ministry is exploring cooperation with Russia in the education sector, including a joint education program under which students will study in both countries for half the study term.”This kind of collaboration is very important to facilitate students studying at the world’s best universities,” said acting director general of higher education, research, and technology at the ministry, Nizam, in a statement released in Jakarta on Friday.

He visited Russia to explore the potential for collaboration and simultaneously monitored the implementation of the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program at the Faculty of Economics and Faculty of Journalism of Lomonosov Moscow State University.

In addition to joint educational programs, one of the initiatives emphasized at the meeting was the creation of a new representative office for Russian universities in Indonesia’s new capital.

“This will facilitate interaction between the two countries in terms of education and research,” said Nizam.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Minister of Education, Andrey Omelchuk, also proposed developing workforce training programs and exchanging scientific experience as part of efforts to improve the quality of education.

“There is a new project known as Russian University and it has been proposed. In this project, students will get two degrees, study Russian, and have the opportunity to work in both countries,” said Omelchuk.

Russia has also offered Indonesia the opportunity to join the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), which is among the world leaders in fundamental and applied research in various fields.

Moreover, the demand for Russian higher education in Indonesia is increasing. The Russian government has also increased the budget quota for Indonesian students at Russian universities to 300 for the 20232024 academic year.

Currently, there are around 500 Indonesian students studying in Russia, with 21 students from various universities in Indonesia getting the opportunity to attend lectures for one semester at Lomonosov Moscow State University (LMSU) under the IISMA Program.

Source: Antara News Agency