UMY Spearheads Scholarship Initiative in Brunei Darussalam to Foster Internationalization
Following successful promotion to Thailand and the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam is the next country in the series of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) promotions in ASEAN. The promotion took place from March 13 to 15 in several locations in Brunei Darussalam, such as Pusat Tingkatan Enam (PTE) Maktab Duli School, PTE Meragang School, Ministry of Education, University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD), and Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Bandar Seri Begawan. The UMY Promotional Team consisted of Idham Badruzaman, Ph.D., the head of the International Relations Office, Dr. Imam Suprabowo, S.Sos.I., M.Pd.I. the Head of Admission, and Intan Zunnurain Binti Jefry along with Abdul Muizz Mohd Salleh as student representatives from UMY who are both originally from Brunei Darussalam.
On the initial day, the teacher and students of PTE Maktab Duli and PTE Meragang showed their interest by actively participating in a question and answer session. The Department of Law is the most requested department by students at PTE Maktab Duli. Moreover, both teachers and students at PTE Meragang are keen in enrolling at UMY as UMY offers a wide range of academic disciplines, not limited to Islamic-related studies.
During their visit to the Ministry of Education, the meeting between UMY and the Ministry of Education was really fruitful. Both the Jabatan Pengajian Tinggi (JPT) and Jabatan Sekolah Sekolah (JSS) cordially greeted the UMY Promotional Team and expressed enthusiasm for the potential opportunities that UMY could offer. In addition to that, they were also open to any future collaboration for educational activities.
Furthermore, the delegates from UMY paid a visit to the Office of the Assistant Vice Chancellor (Global Affairs) of UBD. They were warmly welcomed by the Deputy Director, Puan Irmawati Ahmad, and the Discovery Year Program Manager, Puan Asnah Haji Yusof. UMY provides scholarships to UBD graduates and has agreed to a student exchange scheme where both parties would have their tuition fees and accommodation waived.
On the final day, the UMY Promotional Team had the opportunity to visit the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Bandar Seri Begawan. The efforts of UMY to organize a promotion at numerous schools in Brunei Darussalam were highly welcomed and appreciated. Besides that, they are also eager to promote UMY through social media and are open to conducting community service for Indonesian lecturers in Brunei Darussalam, where the population with Indonesian nationality is approximately 30,000.