Beside the above institutional-level agreement, the Indonesian university has also signed further specific cooperation agreements with Bölcsészettudományi Kar (BTK) [Faculty of Humanities] and Gyermeknevelési és Gyógypedagógiai Kar (GYGYK) [Faculty of Education for Children and Special Educational Needs] of UD, where the chief areas of joint efforts will cover social pedagogy, special educational needs and early childhood education.
The first step on the path leading to concluding these contracts was initiated by international students enrolled at UD. At present, there are 29 Indonesian students involved in a variety of programs taught in English at our institution. One of these students, Efilina Kissiya, is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Doctoral School of History and Ethnography. Her thesis supervisor and the program referent of this doctoral school is Gábor Biczó, Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs at the Faculty of Education for Children and Special Educational Needs as well as Head of the Department of Social Sciences. Recently, he has been invited to teach as a guest lecturer at Pattimura University.
“It was this personal tie that, following a series of discussions, was then elevated to institutional and faculty levels in various disciplines, further expanding the international network of contacts of the University of Debrecen. Indonesia is a country with almost 300 million inhabitants, where there are about 180 languages spoken, and this multi-ethnic composition offers a number of exciting opportunities,” said Gábor Biczó to hirek.unideb.hu.
The Deputy Dean underlined that Pattimura University would be strongly committed to gaining experience from and about Europe; therefore, it is an honor that the University of Debrecen has been their initial choice for this long-term strategic vision.
Pattimura University was founded in 1963. Its research focus and innovation efforts are concentrated on sustainable development, marine and coastal resources, education and indigenous knowledge systems. As a leading institution of higher education in Eastern Indonesia, it is firmly committed to the development of human resources, knowledge, technology and the arts through channels of national and international collaboration. Its educational portfolio contains teacher training and medical programs as well as degree studies in the fields of law, agriculture, engineering, business, mathematics, exact sciences and a wide range of pedagogical modules.
At the beginning of their visit to the University of Debrecen, the Indonesian delegation led by Nur Aida Kubangun, Vice Rector for Student, Public Relations and Alumni Affairs of Pattimura University, first took a tour of our Main Building guided by Okszána Kiszil, Head of the Directorate for Coordination and Strategy at UD, while they learned about the history of our institution and its educational and academic activities.
The cooperation agreement with the Faculty of Humanities was signed by Péter Csatár on behalf of Dean Róbert Keményfi. The Deputy Dean for Strategy and Economics of the Faculty of Humanities highlighted that, as a result of this cooperation, a broad range of educational and cultural programs could be implemented in the future. This would definitely create a variety of new opportunities for both teachers and students through the involvement of the faculty's units participating in teacher training, as well as for the Institute of Ethnography and Museology and the Institute of Psychology.
The Indonesian delegation then paid a visit to the campus of the University of Debrecen located in nearby Hajdúböszörmény, where they signed another document of cooperation specifically between the Faculty of Education for Children and Special Educational Needs of UD and the Faculty of Teacher Training and Educational Sciences of PU, covering a wide range of opportunities for joint mobility and research projects.
Between April 24 and 26, the members of the delegation also participated in the jubilee conference Különleges Bánásmód Nemzetközi Interdiszciplináris Konferencia [‘Special Treatment’ International Interdisciplinary Conference], held at GYGYK, where they gave talks and presentations on their research findings in the field of pedagogy.
Press Office – BZs
