UPI and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan Partner to Protect Interns and KKN Students

The Indonesia University of Education (UPI) and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Cooperation Agreement at the UPI campus in Bandung. Through this collaboration, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan protection will be extended to non-civil servant employees at UPI, students undertaking internships, and students participating in community service programmes (KKN). The MoU was signed directly by BPJS Ketenagakerjaan President Director Saiful Hidayat and UPI Rector Prof Dr H Didi Sukyadi, MA. According to Didi, the collaboration is a follow-up to discussions between the two institutions covering the strengthening of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education, learning and development, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan membership, research, planning, and information technology development. He stated that besides expanding social protection for the academic community, the collaboration is directed at increasing social security literacy in the community through student involvement in various off-campus academic activities. Didi explained that the collaboration provides dual benefits, namely enhancing the academic community’s understanding of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan programmes while strengthening the implementation of community service. He noted that the impact of the cooperation extends beyond the campus, as students who have gained an understanding of employment social security will become literacy agents during KKN, internships, or teaching practice. UPI will also expand socialisation to students participating in off-campus activities. The protection scheme for students will be arranged in stages, considering the characteristics of each academic programme. As part of the initial implementation, UPI is targeting students participating in a teaching practice programme with the West Java Provincial Government as a priority group for BPJS Ketenagakerjaan protection socialisation. Currently, around 1,147 students are undertaking teaching practice in various schools across West Java, with the number projected to increase in the following semester. BPJS Ketenagakerjaan President Director Saiful Hidayat stated that the cooperation is a commitment to expanding employment social security coverage within the higher education community and improving public literacy about the programme. He expressed hope that the synergy would optimise the implementation of the programme, not only for educators and campus workers but also for students undergoing internships or KKN, as well as non-civil servant employees at UPI. The event also featured a discussion on the potential for children of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan participants who are entitled to scholarship benefits to utilise those scholarships for education at UPI. This aligns with the PEKA (Economic Empowerment and Sustainable Independence) programme, which ensures that the education of participants’ children can continue even if the family faces socio-economic risks due to a parent’s work accident or death. A Cooperation Agreement was also signed between BPJS Ketenagakerjaan’s Director of Human Capital and General Affairs and UPI’s Vice Rector for Education and Quality Assurance regarding the Tri Dharma of Higher Education, human resource quality improvement, and synergy in implementing the employment social security programme for students undertaking internships and KKN.