SLEMAN - Three UPN "Veteran" Yogyakarta (UPNVY) students had the opportunity to take part in the 4th Batch of SEA-TVET (South East Asia - Technical and Vocational Education Training) Student Exchange, in the Philippines, for 3 months, from 3 March to 1 June 2019 .

Three students from the Agribusiness Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, were selected to be delegates in the program, namely Yasid Al Ridho (2015), Maria Erika Kristi (2016), and Alfonsus Bima Yogaradityo (2016).

"During the program, we learned about the introduction and the exchange of cultural learning, learned about Tagalog, and had an education short course at the campus," Yasid said.

In addition, they interned at the international company TAU Mushroom Productions, JMS Farm, Thomas Castro Farm, and the Philippines Carabao Center.

 In the 4th period, Yasid and her two partners, the student exchange program which was initiated by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education (SEAMEO) Secretariat, mingled with about 300 other students from 126 campuses in five ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Besides UPNVY, as many as 54 universities from Indonesia also participated in this activity.

"During this program, we gained valuable experience in being able to experience how to work abroad, had more insight of the international relationships, honed English language skills and also learned how to tolerate", Yasid said.

This program aims to improve the competitiveness, knowledge and skills of students through internship experience across countries in the Southeast Asian region. In addition, this event also aims to build a network foundation between universities and TVET institutions in Southeast Asia, and to develop partnerships with TVET institutions outside Southeast Asia.

This program is fully supported by UPNVY through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) among the participated institutions in Malaysia on March 26, 2019.

(WWW / PR)