Deputy Minister of Home Affairs urges balanced academic culture at IPDN
Sumedang — Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto has called for strengthening a balanced academic culture at the Institute of Domestic Government (IPDN) as part of efforts to improve educational quality for students.
During a visit to the IPDN Jatinangor Campus on Wednesday, Bima Arya stated that strengthening academic culture must be built in a balanced manner between the system of disciplinary development and professional academic culture within a learning curriculum.
“Our first task is curriculum and the second is improving the institution’s image by building a balanced academic culture. Training is necessary, but we want to build academic culture,” he said.
He explained that strengthening the academic aspect is important so that IPDN is able to produce civil servants who are not only disciplined, but also have intellectual capacity and the ability to adapt in carrying out governance.
He also added that the institution’s image needs to be changed so it is no longer viewed as a campus with irrational training methods, but rather as an educational institution capable of producing professional and adaptive civil servants.
“We also need to dismantle the image that IPDN is a campus where juniors are trained in irrational ways. Most people know that IPDN alumni focus on governance, yet we need talent that also understands accounting, engineering, and other fields,” he said.
On this occasion, he also emphasised that IPDN should develop civil servants who are adaptive and capable of thriving in various government leadership positions.
He stated that the ideal civil servant is not merely someone who is loyal without criticism or plays it safe, but rather someone who can adapt to their leadership whilst understanding regulations and implementing policies professionally.
“The ideal is a civil servant like a Tai Chi player, able to adapt to leadership, understand rules, and still be able to implement policies correctly regardless of who the leader is,” he explained.
Bima Arya also appreciated IPDN’s efforts in strengthening academic quality, including actively establishing international networks with various foreign universities.
“I appreciate the rectors; international activities are already beginning to happen. The rectors have travelled to Cambridge to build networks,” he said.
He also explained that support from various parties, including the Indonesian Parliament, is needed so that IPDN can continue to develop as an educational institution that prepares prospective government leaders at regional and national levels.