UNAND to Conduct Comprehensive Analysis Before Deciding to Build Free Nutritious Meals Kitchen
Padang (ANTARA) - Universitas Andalas (UNAND) in West Sumatra will conduct a comprehensive analysis before deciding to participate in establishing a free nutritious meals kitchen (MBG), which is a priority programme of President Prabowo Subianto.
“First, the university must certainly conduct a comprehensive analysis because this is outside the university’s core business,” said UNAND Secretary Aidinil Zetra in Padang on Thursday.
This was stated by Aidinil Zetra in response to an invitation from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) for the entire university academic community to make MBG a living laboratory that fosters an ecosystem for research, studies, and quality education development.
He explained that based on the Higher Education Law, the purpose of establishing a campus is to carry out the Tridharma of Higher Education. Therefore, if directly involved in the MBG Programme, a comprehensive analysis or study is needed first.
However, he emphasised that the oldest campus outside Java could contribute to the success of the MBG Programme. After the study, UNAND will decide whether to participate or not in building an MBG kitchen, as previously done by Universitas Hasanuddin in Makassar.
According to him, the analysis is to ensure that the President’s programme provides benefits and is distributed on target, especially for the beneficiaries. Because at the same time, he assessed that the implementation of MBG still requires evaluation and system improvement.
“So, this policy must be perfected so that the state resources allocated provide benefits to the community,” he said.
Separately, Deputy Head of BGN for Public Communication and Investigation, Nanik S. Deyang, described the MBG Programme as a real learning space for the academic world. Through MBG, BGN opens opportunities for higher education institutions to provide input so that the implementation of MBG runs more effectively.
One form of expected contribution is the involvement of students in the Kuliah Kerja Nyata (KKN) programme, particularly from the health field.