Home Affairs Ministry Boosts Competence, 434 Village Heads 'Study' at UI
The Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) has launched the first batch of the Village Heads Enter Campus (KDMK) programme at the University of Indonesia (UI) in Depok, West Java. A total of 434 village heads from 162 regencies and cities across 20 provinces are participating in the short course.
Director General of Village Governance Development at Kemendagri, La Ode Ahmad Pidana Bolombo, stated that the programme is a collaboration between Kemendagri, the University of Indonesia, local governments, and village administrations to strengthen the competence of village heads through education and innovation development.
“The Village Heads Enter Campus programme is a concrete step to enhance the leadership capacity of village heads through collaboration between Kemendagri, the University of Indonesia, local governments, and village administrations,” La Ode said in a written statement on Wednesday (1/7/2026). “We hope that village heads will be able to bring innovations that have a direct impact on the community and strengthen village governance that is increasingly better, professional, and adaptive to the times,” he continued.
The opening ceremony took place at the Purnomo Prawiro Hall, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) UI, on Tuesday (30/6/2026). The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto, Rector of the University of Indonesia Heri Hermansyah, UI leadership, Kemendagri officials, and academics.
The 434 participating village heads come from the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Bangka Belitung Islands, Lampung, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Banten, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi.
In his remarks, UI Rector Heri Hermansyah said the KDMK programme aims to bridge university knowledge, research, and innovation so they can be applied in village development. He noted that village heads are expected to be able to explore local potential and deliver better public services.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto stressed that villages are the spearhead of national development. He said improving the quality of human resources for village apparatus is key to addressing various challenges, from governance and technology utilisation to public service innovation.
“Villages are the spearhead of national development. Village progress will have a direct impact on community welfare and regional economic growth,” Bima Arya said.
Following the opening, participants attended lectures divided into 17 classes. The material focused on six areas of innovation: agriculture and plantations, tourism and ecotourism, economy and infrastructure, disaster mitigation and health, education and digitalisation, as well as fisheries and livestock.