Indonesian International Islamic University Starts Face-to-Face Lectures

Depok, MINA – Face-to-face lectures (offline) at the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII) campus, Cimanggis, Depok, will begin on Monday next week, which will be attended by all students receiving the UIII Scholarship program from within and outside the country.

Previously, lectures in the last semester which began on September 20, 2021, were carried out completely virtually, given the worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

UIII Vice Chancellor for Academic, Student Affairs, and Human Resources (HR), Bahrul Hayat, Ph.D., said, according to the Academic Calendar, lectures for the Even Semester of the 2021/2022 Academic Year will begin on Monday (7/3) face-to-face, except for some courses taught by international lecturers which will be conducted in a hybrid manner.

“The UIII leadership has determined this after considering various aspects, including the improving condition of Covid-19,” explained Bahrul Hayat in a written statement received by MINA on Saturday.

Following this decision, the students began to live in campus dormitories which were 100 percent ready to be occupied. Since February 27, 2022, students from abroad have gradually arrived in Indonesia via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Cengkareng.

After undergoing the immigration process and the PCR test, they headed to the hotel to undergo quarantine according to Indonesian Government regulations. Currently, most of the students both from within and outside the country are already in the UIII campus dormitory, some of whom are still on their way or undergoing quarantine.

“Health and safety protocols will also continue to be applied during lectures and while students are on campus,” he added.

Bahrul Hayat added face-to-face lectures are intended for students to be on campus to build academic culture and learning intensity through intensive interaction between students and lecturers and between students from within and outside the country as the academic community.

UIII Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Komaruddin Hidayat said he was happy with the start of face-to-face lectures after the previous semester he only met virtually with his students.

“I would like to welcome my fellow UIII students who come from various cities in Indonesia and from other countries. Together with UIII, let’s build a future full of optimism and cheerfulness,” he said.

Furthermore, the students who already live in the dormitory will take part in the Welcome Week event in the form of face-to-face introductions, faculty socialization, and the Jakarta City Tour.

In this series of Welcome Week, students will also be invited to meet with the Mayor of Bogor, Bima Arya Sugiarto, visit the Bogor Botanical Gardens, and ride a healthy bicycle with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Zainudin Amali.

On Saturday, the students and the academic community of UIII will take part in the main event of the Welcome Day Dinner. In this event, the Chancellor will give a speech to the new students and hand over the student package. This dinner event will also be enlivened with Live Music.

According to the Secretary of UIII, Dr. Chaider S. Bamualim, MA, the series of events was held to introduce students to a new environment so that they feel at home, not feeling strange being far from their home or country of origin.

“We invite foreign students with a high offer that our campus has qualifications, that our country is beautiful, the environment is good, the people are friendly, the religious attitude is tolerant. Well, we have to show that from the first time they set foot here,” he said.

He also explained that of the 98 students who were declared eligible and accepted as UIII students for the 2021-2022 academic year, 66% percent were Indonesian citizens and 34% percent were foreign nationals.

A student from Egypt, Esra Ahmed Abdulhalim, admitted that she was amazed when she first set foot at UIII because she thought the campus was very wide. “It is very interesting that there are ‘tuk-tuks’ (Egyptian bajaj) around the campus,” he said.

He also felt happy with the atmosphere of the hostel which was located in a green area, and hoped that he would feel at home living here because this was his first time living in a dormitory.

Magello, a student from the Philippines, said the same thing. According to him, the dormitory conditions are sufficient to meet the needs of students to support their daily activities.

“This building is also designed to be modern and conductive for learning and other educational activities. The students will definitely have valuable time to stay in this dormitory until they finish the program,” he added.

The International Islamic University (UIII) campus, located in the Depok area, West Java, was established with the aim of introducing moderate and tolerant Indonesian Islam to the international world, and making Indonesia one of the centers of world Islamic civilization.

UIII was initiated in 2015 and began to open registration for new student candidates through the UIII Scholarship program in early June 2021. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)