As a result of the visit to Indonesia on 18-19 March, 2015 by Krista Kiuru, the Minister of Education, Science and Communications of Finland, and her delegation, the two countries could sign a new agreement on cooperation within education. Krista Kiuru discussed the educational cooperation between Indonesia and Finland with several Indonesian ministers during her visit.
The Minister of Education Lark Anies Baswedan signed the cooperation document on behalf of Indonesia, allowing for deepening cooperation in the field of education and systematic education export recovery.
The two education ministers in particular discussed between-home-and-school cooperation, teacher training, digitization and distance learning opportunities, and the topic of school satisfaction and how to improve student motivation.
The negotiations also involved the Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir, presenting as the three priority areas in Finland and Indonesia’s cooperation and export of education: teacher training, as well as forestry and bio-economy and health education. The Ministers also discussed the exchange of students in higher education, as well as the development of research and innovation in the development of the cooperation.
“I am very happy that I was able to during my visit to promote cooperation between schools in Finland and Indonesia. The concrete result is the cooperation document opening doors for Finnish actors to export education. The possibilities are almost endless in Indonesia, with more than 250 million inhabitants and rapid development at the moment,” Minister Kiuru said.
University of Turku, Tampere University and the University of Eastern Finland export training organization Finlandia University have a number of partnerships with various universities in Indonesia.
Indonesia has the world’s third largest tropical forest resources. Indonesia has traditionally used Finnish forest technology. Minister Kiuru’s discussions with Indonesia’s Minister of Education and Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakarin recognised that tropical forests have an impact on the Finnish climate. In the future, the Finnish forest expertise may contribute significantly to combine commercial use and at the same time to increase the protected forest area.
From the view of the Finnish education export, Indonesia is a remarkable country for many reasons. Indonesia has the world’s fourth-largest education system and the reform-minded country aims to invest in education.
OECD’s new report, “Education in Indonesia – Rising to the Challenge,” gives guidelines which would help Indonesia advance on the path towards high-income status. The report’s main themes are the quality of education, the widening participation and the increasing efficiency. Finnish educational know-how could be a notable investment in the fields of bioeconomy, forestry, healthcare and teacher training in Indonesia.
