Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X Launches Guidebook for Yogyakarta-Specific Education

Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, has officially launched the Yogyakarta-Specific Education (PKJ) Guidebook for the higher education level. The launch aims to ensure that the advancement of science and technology remains aligned with the safety of the earth, justice, and human welfare.

The launch event took place at the Rectorate Building of Yogyakarta State University (UNY) on Thursday (20/8/2026), attended by representatives from various higher education institutions in DIY. In his address, Sri Sultan emphasised that PKJ is not an obstacle to progress, but rather a moral compass for the development of the times.

“Yogyakarta-Specific Education does not conflict with progress. PKJ actually ensures that the advancement of science and technology remains on the side of the safety of the earth, justice, and human welfare,” said Sri Sultan.

Sri Sultan explained that the presence of PKJ in higher education is not a form of local exclusivity. On the contrary, it represents Yogyakarta’s contribution to national higher education policy. PKJ demonstrates how local values can become a source of innovation and a new perspective in questioning the essence of knowledge.

“I wish to position this idea not as local content added to an already full curriculum, but as a perspective that changes how knowledge itself is questioned,” he said.

According to the Sultan, knowledge must not stop at texts, examinations, or diplomas. PKJ is presented as an effort to shorten the distance between the lecture hall and the reality of community life. Knowledge is invited to “return home” and pause at humanitarian values before being applied in the world of work.

In its implementation, PKJ is based on the philosophy of Hamemayu Hayuning Bawono. This philosophy teaches that the excellence of knowledge must be measured by its ability to nurture harmony between humans and one another, nature, and the Creator.

Sri Sultan assessed that the implementation of PKJ must be realised through the Three Pillars of Higher Education (Tridharma Perguruan Tinggi). He also emphasised the importance of an ecosystem that brings together three spaces: the Kraton as a horizon of values, the campus as a critical force, and the village as a space for proving knowledge.

Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Brian Yuliarto, Ph.D., expressed high appreciation through an online address. He said Yogyakarta holds a special position as the birthplace of the nation’s thinkers.

“The presence of the PKJ Guidebook is a good step towards bringing together education, science, and culture. Cultural values are not sufficiently understood as knowledge, but need to be translated into learning experiences that shape students’ ways of thinking,” said Brian.

Closing his address, Sri Sultan affirmed that the highest measure of education is its benefit to life. He expressed hope that from Yogyakarta would emerge a model of higher education capable of uniting cultural roots with the progress of the times, reason with feeling, and policy with real action.