In upholding the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka Program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, SEAMEO BIOTROP joined a series of collaborative activities held by the 7 SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia and the Nusa Tenggara Barat Provincial Office of Educational Quality Assurance (LPPM/Lembaga Penjaminan Mutu Pendidikan Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat) starting from 8 November 2021 until 13 November 2021.  The 7 SEAMEO Centres joining these activities were SEAMEO BIOTROP, SEAMEO RECFON, SEAMEO SEAMOLEC, SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, SEAMEO QITEP in Language, SEAMEO QITEP in Science and SEAMEO CECCEP.

This event was opened by the Nusa Tenggara Barat Provincial Education Office, Dr H. Aidy Furqan. “It is important to collaboratively support the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka Program, especially because the program is an effort to encourage the freedom of thoughts in providing the best solution for the educational advancement in Indonesia”, Dr Furqan said.  The welcome remark was delivered by the Nusa Tenggara Barat Provincial Office of Educational Quality Assurance (LPPM Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat), Mr Mohamad Mustari, PhD. He emphasized the importance of collaboration among the SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia and other educational institutions, not only in the Nusa Tenggara Barat Province, but also in the national level.

The series of activities consisted of an exhibition of products and services of each SEAMEO Centre, MoUs signing and knowledge sharing from the researchers of SEAMEO BIOTROP and other Centres, using offline and online platforms.  The MoUs signed were between the SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia and Universitas Mataram and Universitas Muhammadiyah Mataram.  After the MoUs signing ceremony, the Coordinator of Quality Assurance and Cooperation of the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Katman, SPd, MA shared his presentation on the policy for supporting an online school system. During this event, the SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia delivered their respective presentations on their expertise.  This event guided teachers, school principals and other educational stakeholders in regards to the areas of expertise of each SEAMEO Centre in Indonesia (zi).