As a legal entity state university with a vision to become a World Class University, Universitas Terbuka (UT) keeps on spreading its wings to the international stage. As a pioneer of open and distance learning (ODL) in Indonesia, UT always optimizes opportunities to exchange perspectives with other universities abroad with similar learning systems. This effort is further solidified with UT’S participation in the international symposium held by Open University of Japan (OUJ) on December 4th, 2024.
This symposium carries the theme “Open Higher Education Beyond Borders and Identities” and presents stakeholders of ODL from different countries as a platform for sharing knowledge and innovation. This event started with opening remarks from the President of OUJ, Prof. Masaya Iwanaga, who highlighted the importance of global partnerships in building an inclusive higher education system. This remark is followed by the Director of Next Generation Education Research Center of OUJ, Prof. Hitoshi Nakagawa, emphasizing the role of technology as the main foundation of ODL development.
UT, represented by the Vice Rector for Research, Innovation, Partnership, and Business, Rahmat Budiman, M.Hum., Ph.D., shared good practices with the theme “Lesson Learned from Universitas Terbuka: Providing Quality Education Across the Border”. He explained the system of ODL implemented by UT as well as the challenges of the implementation. He also emphasized UT’s commitment to provide higher education nationally and globally, which is proven by UT’s abroad services and UT’s strategic plan to have international students.
The global perspective of inclusive education is enriched by the materials from Prof. Kutlay Yagmur of Tilburg University, Netherlands. He presented the theme “Promoting Diversity Policies in Higher Education: Aims of Inclusive Higher Education in the Netherlands” which underlines the importance of inclusive policies that promote diversity so higher education is more accessible to the public.
The interactive discussion that involved the speakers and participants of the symposium becomes the closing part of the event that brings new knowledge. Through this discussion, Rahmat Budiman, M.Hum., Ph.D., Prof. Kutlay Yagumur, Prof. Kumiko Aoki, Prof. Rie Ohashi, and Prof. Tsuneo Yamada discussed the strategic steps to realize inclusive higher education. This symposium is closed by OUJ Trustee, Prof. Tomoka Satomi, facillitated by Prof. Tooru Hayashi, Vice President of OUJ. They expressed appreciation for the contribution from the speakers and participants. This symposium hopefully can push collaborations between universities in implementing inclusive higher education beyond geographic and identity limits.
