Ministry of Social Affairs and ITB Visi Nusantara Strengthen Empowerment of Sekolah Rakyat Graduates

The Ministry of Social Affairs is opening opportunities for collaboration with the Visi Nusantara Institute of Technology and Business (ITB) in Bogor to strengthen community empowerment in villages. The partnership also aims to expand access to education for graduates of Sekolah Rakyat (People’s Schools).

This was discussed during an audience between Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Agus Jabo Priyono and the Digital Community Development and Empowerment Institute (LP2MD) of ITB Visi Nusantara Bogor at the Ministry of Social Affairs office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

Tino Rahardian, representing the institute, stated that his party would contribute to community development through village-based education. The five-year-old campus is preparing a ‘one graduate per village’ programme for Bogor Regency, which will reach hundreds of villages in the area. He explained that ITB Visi Nusantara Bogor wants to provide education capable of addressing various social issues within society.

‘Education must indeed be liberating. Liberating from poverty, liberating from ignorance, and so on. Therefore, our institution is very keen to contribute, whether in Sekolah Rakyat, where perhaps our lecturers can assist the students, or possibly for Sekolah Rakyat graduates who wish to study at ITB Vinus,’ Tino said in a written statement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Yusfitriadi, Chairman of the Visi Nusantara Foundation, explained that the campus he founded is building an educational ecosystem directly connected to the needs of village communities. ‘We are indeed building synergies with various parties, especially those directly involved with grassroots issues, one of which is the Ministry of Social Affairs. Because it is the Ministry of Social Affairs that creates various programmes at the community level, which I think will intersect a lot with us as a higher education institution,’ he said.

Daniel Zuchron, Rector of ITB Visi Nusantara Bogor, explained that his campus is preparing a village-based curriculum aimed at producing graduates capable of returning to and developing their home regions. ‘Because we want to talk about starting from the village. So, the 416 villages in Bogor Regency will be fully occupied, and for four years they will be trained as village scholars,’ he said.

Responding to this, Deputy Minister Agus Jabo conveyed that the Ministry of Social Affairs currently has three main mandates: updating the National Single Socio-Economic Data (DTSEN), distributing targeted social assistance, and organising Sekolah Rakyat to break the intergenerational poverty chain. ‘Sekolah Rakyat is a priority programme of the President intended to break the transmission of poverty. The President does not want that if the parents are poor, the children will also be poor,’ said Agus Jabo.

According to him, poverty alleviation efforts cannot rely solely on social assistance. Therefore, the Ministry continues to strengthen empowerment programmes so that beneficiary families can become self-sufficient and graduate from social assistance. ‘I am committed to the Minister that if social assistance is continuously maintained, it is not productive. We want to migrate. We will intervene and empower the productive poor,’ he said.

Agus Jabo sees at least two opportunities for collaboration that can be immediately developed with ITB Visi Nusantara. First, community empowerment in villages with high poverty rates through the Ministry’s Kampung Berdaya (Empowered Village) model. Second, opening access to higher education for Sekolah Rakyat graduates. ‘We collaborate in the context of village community empowerment. It would be even better if ITB Vinus graduates could become facilitators because they have the knowledge. We provide the arena, we intervene with capital, provide the workers, and you will become the support team there. So, the collaboration is in the context of poverty alleviation through community empowerment in villages,’ he said.

Agus Jabo added that the success of Sekolah Rakyat does not stop when students graduate from high school. Graduates who wish to pursue higher education need to gain access so that the goal of breaking the poverty chain can be sustained. ‘Therefore, we must ensure that children graduating from Sekolah Rakyat are accommodated in higher education institutions if they want to study,’ he said.

To that end, the Ministry of Social Affairs is opening opportunities for cooperation with ITB Visi Nusantara in providing educational access for Sekolah Rakyat graduates, particularly in the Bogor area. ‘Later, we can also create an MoU between the Ministry of Social Affairs and ITB Vinus to accommodate children who graduate from high school, especially those in the Bogor area,’ said Agus Jabo.

Adrianus Alla, Director of Community Empowerment at the Ministry of Social Affairs, explained that the collaboration model between campuses, government, and the business sector has already been implemented in several regions. Campuses play a role in community mentoring, while the Ministry helps with programme interventions and opens market access through various business partners. ‘Social assistance is temporary, but empowerment is forever. We hope that through empowerment, they can exit from social assistance so that the opportunity can be given to other communities in greater need,’ concluded Adrianus.

The audience concluded with a commitment to follow up on the cooperation opportunities between the Ministry of Social Affairs and ITB Visi Nusantara, particularly in developing village empowerment programmes, poverty alleviation, and educational support for Sekolah Rakyat graduates.