PWI and the Police to Explore UKW Cooperation for 10,000 Journalists

Implementation of the Journalists’ Competency Test will be carried out in stages according to the needs of each region.

Kota Jambi (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) together with the National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri) are exploring cooperation to implement the Journalists’ Competency Test (UKW), targeting 10,000 participants to raise the quality of human resources in journalism across the country.

‘We (PWI) will work with Mabes Polri to jointly improve the quality of our human resources, especially our journalists, and we will conduct the competency test together. In the near future a memorandum of understanding will be signed,’ said PWI Central Chairman Akhmad Munir during the UKW event in Jambi City, on Wednesday.

Munir assessed that the target is quite large; to date only Polda Metro Jaya (PMJ) has implemented the programme, having recruited 100 journalists in that region.

To solidify this major programme, PWI together with Mabes Polri plan to hold a follow-up meeting on Friday, 22 May, so that the activity proceeds in line with expectations.

Through this cooperation, it is hoped that the competence and professionalism of journalists in Indonesia will continue to improve.

On the other hand, this synergy also underscores the importance of protecting journalistic work.

‘The implementation of the competency test will be carried out in stages according to needs in each area. In future each region is planned to be allocated according to quotas,’ he added.

Therefore, through the implementation of UKW for journalists organised by the PWI of Jambi Province, it is hoped to produce journalistic works of a high quality that can be trusted by the broad public through the journalistic products produced.

According to him, by participating in UKW, a journalist will have a clear standard of competence to produce credible, accurate press products that bring welfare or benefit to the public.

‘Hopefully, the public will receive correct information. This correct information is produced by colleagues who participate in these competency tests,’ he stressed.