KSF 12 Discusses Four Nation Pillars

Knowledge Sharing Forum (KSF) continues and on Friday (28/8/2020), the Forum entered its 12^th series. This KSF was rather extraordinary as it was held at the People Consultative Assembly Building or the Republic of Indonesia or MPR-RI and broadcast through Microsoft Teams platform and Youtube UT TV channel. This KSF brought up the theme called “the Roles of Nation’s Four Pillars and Equal Distribution of Higher Education Access to Strengthen National Connectivity” with the resource person, the Chairman or Spokesman of the People Consultative Assembly Building or the Republic of Indonesia or MPR-RI, H. Bambang Soesatyo, S.E., M.B.A.

Prior to entering the subject matters of the forum, UT’s Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D. gave his opening speech. Ojat said that UT is an education institution that is mandated directly by the government to provide equal distribution of higher education for the people. During its 36 years of services, UT has produced 1.8 millions of graduates across Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman of the People Consultative Assembly Building or the Republic of Indonesia or MPR-RI, H. Bambang Soesatyo, S.E., M.B.A., in his presentation, said that one of Indonesia’s main focuses, as an archipelagic country, is connectivity, in terms of both the actual connectivity of inter-regions and the connectivity in the sense of national bond.

In building connectivity, Bambang continued, there are three main priorities that need attention; namely the implementation of equal distribution of the development outcomes, HR or human resources development, and national insight development. The implementation of equal distribution of the development is done, among others, by the development of maritime infrastructure and transportation modes which can create the inter-island connectivity so it can provide equal distribution of economic development. HR development is carried out by improving accessibility to the equal distribution of higher education throughout Indonesia, in this particular case by providing Open and Distance Higher Education (ODHE) that can be accessed from all parts of Indonesia. The national insight development which is carried out by building collective awareness of each of its citizens that we cannot be separated from our national ties, one of which is through massive character building.

Bambang further stated that in this context, his organization has implemented the socialization of Four Pillars of MPR-RI, which is the national principle (dasar negara), ideological foundation (landasan ideologi), philosophy of life (falsafah), moral ethics, and the instrument for national unification (pemersatu bangsa), the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (UUD RI 1945) as the constitutional basis, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia or NKRI as the consensus on the form of state sovereignty, as well as the Unity in Diversity or Bhinneka Tunggal Ika as the spirit to unify the diversity of its people.

The 12^th KSF event was closed by the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between UT and MPR-RI for the purpose of the implementation of the Socialization of Four Pillars from the People Consultative Assembly Building or the Republic of Indonesia or MPR-RI to Indonesia Open University (UT), both at the national and regional/local levels.