Jakarta, March 6, 2025 – Universitas Terbuka (UT) once again reaffirmed its commitment to expanding higher education access for all levels of society, including Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI). This strategic step was realized through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UT and the Ministry of Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection (P2MI) which took place at the KH Abdurrahman Wahid Hall, Ministry of P2MI Building, South Jakarta. 

This event was attended by various important figures, including Minister of P2MI Abdul Kadir Karding, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Arifatul Choiri Fauzi, Deputy Minister of P2MI Christina Aryani and Dzulfikar Ahmad Tawalla, as well as officials from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the National Zakat Agency (BAZNAS), the Rector of Diponegoro University, and of course the leadership of Universitas Terbuka. 

In his speech, the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs of UT, Rahmat Budiman, Ph.D., emphasized that UT as the 45th State University in Indonesia has a mandate to provide higher education services to all levels of society, including Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) who are abroad. 

“The flexibility of time and the open and distance learning system (PTJJ) offered by UT allows PMI to work while pursuing formal education. With this opportunity, they can improve their competence and competitiveness in facing global competition,” said Rahmat Budiman. 

Furthermore, he conveyed that the education carried out by PMI at UT is not only to obtain a degree, but also as a provision for them after returning to Indonesia. With better competence, graduates are expected to contribute to national development and become part of the Golden Generation 2045. 

The cooperation between UT and BP2MI (formerly BNP2TKI) has been ongoing since 2018 and continues to develop to this day, along with the transformation of BP2MI into the Ministry of P2MI. The MoU signed today is a form of synergy to increase education access for PMI through: 

• Socialization & Education for Prospective PMI – UT is given access to conduct education socialization to prospective PMI before departure abroad. 

• Training for BP2MI Instructors – UT has organized 9 batches of Training of Trainers (ToT) for BP2MI instructors in the Pre-Departure Orientation (OPP) program, with a total of 402 participants. 

• Increase in the Number of PMI Students – Currently, there are 7,135 PMI actively studying at UT, and until 2025, 1,440 people have graduated. 

The impact of increasing human resource capacity through expanding UT education access to all levels of society, including for PMI abroad, is very real. A number of UT alumni who were previously PMI are now working as civil servants, village heads, entrepreneurs, millennial farmers, and professionals in various sectors. In fact, some UT graduates working in South Korea have managed to obtain Visa E7, moving up from migrant workers to professional workers with salaries equivalent to local workers. 

On the same occasion, Minister of P2MI Abdul Kadir Karding emphasized that the government is very concerned about improving the quality and protection of PMI. According to him, of the 1.7 million job opportunities abroad, only 297 thousand have been filled, so the opportunities for PMI to work abroad are still wide open. 

However, the biggest challenge faced is the high number of non-procedural PMI who are vulnerable to exploitation and human trafficking. Therefore, the Ministry of P2MI is committed to increasing protection and encouraging PMI skills improvement to meet global labor standards. 

“We are targeting to reduce the number of PMI in the domestic sector by 20% every year and encourage them to work in the formal sector with higher skills. One way is through education and training, which we synergize with UT and Undip,” said Minister of P2MI. 

To that end, the signing of this MoU is an important milestone in connecting the world of education with international employment. UT and the Ministry of P2MI are committed to continuing to synergize in: 

• Providing higher education access for PMI in more than 55 countries. 

• Preparing PMI to have better skills and education before departure. 

• Supporting the empowerment of former PMI to return to Indonesia with superior competence. 

With this cooperation, PMI not only have the opportunity to work abroad, but also gain access to education that will be a provision for a better future. 

“We hope this cooperation will be stronger, so that the struggle in providing protection and empowerment for the nation’s foreign exchange heroes continues,” concluded Rahmat Budiman.