www.unri.ac.id – The implementation of the University of Riau's Community Service Program (Kukerta-UR) in 2015 has undergone developments. This year, in addition to the Regular Kukerta routinely held by the University, the University of Riau was also entrusted and given a mandate by the West Region Higher Education Cooperation Agency (BKS-PTN) to host the National Kukerta, in this case the Institute for Research and Community Service of the University of Riau (LPPM-UR) as the organizer.
According to Dr. Suwondo MSi as the chairman of the National Kukerta committee of Riau University, the participants of the 2015 National Kukerta will be 700 students from State Universities throughout Indonesia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) who will be placed for one month, starting from 1-30 August 2015, which will be spread across several predetermined areas.
Meanwhile, the locations for this year's National Kukerta have been prepared in several districts in Riau Province that have the potential and characteristics in accordance with the theme of the National Kukerta, namely Bengkalis, Meranti, Siak, and Pelalawan Regencies.
Kukerta is a form of community service activity carried out by students through the organization of the Higher Education Institution with a cross-disciplinary and sectoral approach at a specific time and region as an obligation for each higher education institution to implement the Tri Dharma of Higher Education, which covers the sectors of education, research, and community service. Regular Kukerta is Kukerta involving students from the organizing Higher Education Institution. Meanwhile, Kukerta Kebangsaan involves students at public/private universities throughout Indonesia.
Suwondo also stated that the 2015 National Kukerta (Workshop for the Nation) was themed "Sustainable Environmental Management: Strengthening Community-Based Forest and Land Fire (Karhutla) Prevention Programs." This was motivated by the characteristics of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, as well as the Karhutla problem in Riau Province.
"Through this activity, we hope students can exchange information, develop science and technology, and connect theory with practical, empirical situations. This will enable them to improve their competency in dealing with real-world problems," Suwondo said.
Added Value of National Kukerta
Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Almasdi Syahza, SE MP, Head of LPPM UR, explained that the implementation of the National Kukerta program is essentially not much different from the Regular Kukerta. However, what adds value is that the National Kukerta participants are students from universities throughout Indonesia. Furthermore, the implementation time is shorter, and the program's themes are well-prepared.
"Before the National Kukerta, students were also given training on character building, national values, and information about forest and land fires. This series of activities is planned to be held on July 29-31, 2015. Meanwhile, students from the University of Riau and the State Islamic University (UIN) Suska will be given additional training planned for July 6, 2015. This aims to ensure that UR and UIN Suska students have a good understanding of forest and land fires and can become sources of information for other participants in each group later," Almasdi added.***(UR News / Hizra – TIK UR)