Held a Guest Lecture with the Director General of Plantations, Industrial Chemical Engineering Technology Study Program and Mechanical Design Engineering Initiated of Applied Master’s Degree Collaboration BPDP Oil Palm Scholarship

In order to initiate collaboration between the Vocational School Diponegoro University and the Directorate General of Plantations, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, the Industrial Chemical Engineering Technology Study Program together with the Mechanical Design Engineering Study Program held a Guest Lecture with the theme “Downstreaming of Plantation Commodities and Future Challenges” on Wednesday 27 September 2023. This activity invited resource people from the Director General of Plantations Andi Nur Alam Syah, S.TP, M.T. represented by the Director of Plantation Protection Ir. Hendratmojo Bagus Hudoro, M.Si.

The activity was moderated by Didik Ariwibowo, S.T., M.T. from the RPM Study Program was packaged in a very interesting way so that the students of both study programs were enthusiastic in listening and asking questions. One of the important aspects of this guest lecture is related to the Palm Oil Plantation Human Resources Development Program (SDMPKS) delivered by the Director. Mr. Bagus, his nickname, said that there are 2 focus activities for SDMPKS, namely in the form of vocational level scholarship programs and undergraduate level (S1) studies/interest in palm oil. as well as technical training, managerial training, entrepreneurship training, and other training.

Head of the Industrial Chemical Engineering Study Program, Mohamad Endy Julianto S.T., M.T., said “the initiation of this collaboration cannot be separated from the development of the SDMPKS program which requires prospective educational partners who are competent or skilled in the field of palm oil and its derivatives. Undip’s Vocational TRKI & RPM Study Program is one of the universities chosen by the Directorate General of Plantations because of the competence of the lecturers and staff in addition to all the lecturers also being competency assessors. “Our study program happens to be in accordance with the SDMPKS development program launched by the Director General of Plantations,” said Endy, his nickname when met at the Undip Vocational Campus. The suitability of this SDMPKS program is based on the curriculum at TRKI which has implemented the “Dual System” with a concentration on 3 elective subjects including Oleopangan. and tiered palm oil oleochemistry, so that if this program is realized, it is hoped that in the future the UNDIP Vocational TRKI Study Program will become a pioneer and competent Oleopagan & Oleochemical education and training system in Indonesia. Head of Mechanical Design Engineering (RPM) Study Program, Sri Utami Handayani S.T., M.T., when met at her office also said that this program was extraordinary, because it aimed to increase the knowledge, skills, attitudes, professionalism, independence & competitiveness of palm oil stakeholders; as well as improving the technical, managerial and entrepreneurial abilities of palm oil stakeholders. Therefore, the RPM Study Program fully encourages this oil palm-based cooperative class scholarship program to be realized at the UNDIP Vocational School. When asked when this program could be realized at UNDIP Vocational School, Endy answered, “Detailed implementation is currently still in process. “This still depends on the selection results by the SDMPKS assessors and verifiers.” Endy added “Several stages that must be passed include: selection and determination of educational institutions (BPDPKS), announcement, selection, identification of needs and verification, determination of participants who receive SDMPKS educational scholarships and confirmation of participant attendance.”

However, what was quite encouraging was the follow-up to the guest lecture, with an invitation for presentation and discussion by the Dean of Vocational School, Prof. Dr. Ir. Budiyono M.Si. and his team at the Office of the Director General of Plantations, Ministry of Agriculture on October 4 2024. This activity was attended by the Director General of Plantations, the Director Plantation Protection, Director of Palm Oil & Various Palm Plantations, Director of Fund Distribution-BPDPKS and his staff. The Director General gave an explanation about strengthening the governance of smallholder oil palm plantations, so that they become sustainable palm oil plantations. “Discussions have begun to focus on the development of the SDMPKS program, such as the development of Palm Oil-based Cooperation Classes with TRKI applied S1, RPM applied S1, TRKI applied S2, training organizers and research initiatives,” said Prof. Budiyono.