goodmorningpapua.com – Director General of Higher Education (Dirjen Dikti) Nizam assessed that there is a need for strengthening in the fields of arts, culture, and technology through colleges of arts and cultures in Indonesia. This is because art and culture are the most universal glue today in building society, nation and state as a whole. This was conveyed by Nizam during a working visit at the Indonesian Institute of Cultural Arts (ISBI) Tanah Papua.
“The land of Papua has a lot of cultural diversity and the potential that has not been explored optimally, not forgetting that it must be in line with current technological developments.
We must strive to show that art and culture are also included in our future that must be considered, because this is what is called the creative economy, “he concluded.
Nizam gave an example, one of our works of art from the Asmat tribe in the form of small wood carvings has a very high selling value abroad. And that is just one form of our very diverse work of art.
“You can imagine what if we manage all the arts in Indonesia well, it will shape the culture of the archipelago, and be able to advance and show the potential of the people in Papua on the stage”.
On the third day of a working visit in Papua, the Director General of Higher Education also visited several other universities such as Musamus University, Papua State University, and Muhammadiyah Education University.
When discussing with the higher education academic community, Nizam said that currently the government is very serious about developing Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke, both in terms of infrastructure and currently focusing on human resources. Apart from art, culture and technology, this also greatly influences the progress of each region and country.
“Higher education is the end of education which will play a role in leading our children to become productive adults in developing the region, nation and state,” he said.
Nizam also emphasized that what is important for higher education graduates is not an obtained certificate, but competence, ability, and experience to be productive as well as to use the knowledge that has been acquired during the lecture period, to be actualized in various kinds of work fields.
“It is what encourages all of us to take a program of the Merdeka Campus, which is to prepare younger students as early as possible to enter the professional world they are going to explore,” he said.
In addition, viewing the development of internet technology has made us encounter many people who are classified as post-truth societies. Every day we are flooded with information through social media, our ability to choose the correct information is not a big challenge in navigating to understand and interpret our social environment.