Universitas Indonesia (UI) is committed to increasing global engagement and expanding its network of international partnerships. For this reason, recently UI, represented by Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Abdul Haris, Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, along with UI Vocational Education Program Director Padang Wicaksono, Ph.D., visited Switzerland (September 3-9, 2022).
The visit had the main mission of exploring cooperation with vocational education institutions in Switzerland. The UI delegation was welcomed by the Managing Director of EHL Advisory Service, Andre Mack. On that occasion, Prof. Haris presented opportunities and potential partnerships with UI in this case through UI Vocational School. EHL Hospitality Business School is the world’s top tourism school according to QS World University Rankings (in the Hospitality and Leisure Management category in 2022).
Prof. Haris said that the visit to Switzerland this time was very important for UI Vocational School considering that Switzerland is one of the countries that is very serious in developing professional skills.
“Switzerland has renowned campuses that focus on skill development, applied science, and are professionally oriented,” he said. He continued, “There are great benefits and opportunities for UI in improving vocational education in the future, especially since UI has just opened a D4 or Applied Bachelor program so that vocational cooperation must continue to be improved.”
On this visit to Switzerland, Prof. Haris also attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between UI and the International Management Institute (IMI) in Luzern City, witnessed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland, Prof. Muliawan Hadad, Ph.D..
Prof. Haris and the UI delegation also had the opportunity to meet and discuss with Indonesian students at IMI, as well as attend the Swiss Skills 2022 vocational exhibition in Bern City. The UI delegation was also welcomed by Jacques Ducrest and Erik Swars from the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET).
The visit to Switzerland by the UI delegation is increasingly relevant in the context of the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) Policy which prioritizes links and matches between the world of higher education and the outside world after they graduate.
