PORTALJABAR, DISTRICT. GARUT - The Garut Regency Education Council in collaboration with the Indonesian Education Institute (IPI) Garut attended the Intan Streaming Radio Communication and Solutions Forum (FOKUS) Talkshow Program, Thursday (2/11/2023).

FOCUS Talkshow Program Vol. 26 took the theme "The Role of Higher Education in Preparing Prospective Teachers in Garut Regency", presenting Deputy Chancellor I IPI Garut for Academic Affairs and Cooperation, Abdul Hasim and Deputy Chancellor III IPI Garut for Student Affairs, Endang Dimyati and representatives of the Garut Education Council, Imam Tamamu Taufiq .

Imam Tamamu Taufiq said that the existence of universities in the world of education is a necessity. From a macro perspective, the number of teachers in Indonesia is around 4 million teachers consisting of State Civil Apparatus (ASN) and honorary staff.

Imam also conveyed the important role of universities in producing quality teachers in Indonesia. He also highlighted the importance of the government's role in providing clear status to teachers, both as Civil Servants (PNS) and Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK).

"We are grateful to the Education Council as well as the Communication and Information Department, in this case Radio Intan, so that the public can know, understand how important this university is, in addition to upgrading it to be even better, and thank God the recognition has now gone international, especially IPI," he said .

Taufiq said that the quality of teachers in Garut Regency was quite good, but emphasized that apart from academic competence, teachers must also have the ability to overcome problems such as bullying in the educational environment.

"Hopefully the quality of teachers in Garut Regency will also be supported by the Regency Government in particular, including the central government, so that they really become teachers who educate the nation or citizens of Garut Regency to become people who are useful for religion and for the nation. this country," he said

Regarding teacher needs, Taufiq stated that the government has an obligation to meet teacher needs, especially for honorary teachers who face obstacles in obtaining their rights.

"Because they really have a lot of obstacles in getting their rights," he said.

He appreciated the quality of teacher candidates produced by universities in Garut Regency, even though Garut Regency does not have a state university (PTN), but has several quality and capable universities, one of which is IPI Garut.

Deputy Chancellor I for Academic Affairs and Cooperation at IPI Garut, Abdul Hasim, said that if we look at the level of educational participation in ASEAN, Indonesia still has a low level of educational participation below Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. In this regard, IPI Garut is determined to become an institution for teachers and educational staff that strives to produce prospective teacher graduates with reliable qualifications.

"Having adequate competence so that we continuously improve to be able to produce the best graduates, both from reviewing the curriculum, preparing infrastructure," he said.

Abdul Hasyim stated the institution's determination to produce prospective teacher graduates with reliable qualifications. IPI Garut focuses on increasing teacher competency through the School Field Program (PLP) and adapting to developments in information technology.

"This includes of course having to adapt to IT developments so that like it or not, whether we like it or not, teachers now have to be equipped with IT skills," he said.

Hasim highlighted the current requirements for becoming a teacher, where undergraduate graduates must also go through the Professional Teacher Education (PPG) route, and IPI Garut has entered into a consortium with the Indonesian Education University (UPI) to organize the PPG program, where this year the In-Service PPG Program is being implemented with several study programs, namely Indonesian Language and Literature Education, and Mathematics Education.

"Hopefully in the future we will also open pre-service PPGs," he added.

He also conveyed the importance of education's contribution to the country's progress and hoped that the education sector could receive full support from all parties, one of which was through efforts to glorify teachers with a clear status.

IPI Garut Deputy Chancellor III for Student Affairs, Endang Dimyati, emphasized the institution's efforts to improve the quality of education through improving lecturer qualifications and curriculum. Programs such as Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) are also implemented to produce students with adequate educational quality.

"We always encourage lecturers to always improve their educational qualifications," he said.

Apart from that, in terms of improving quality, the party is also implementing the Independent Learning Campus (MBKM) program, where currently IPI Garut students are doing internships at several companies in Jakarta, Bogor, Tasikmalaya and Bandung. Not only that, IPI also provides opportunities for students to carry out Real Work Lectures (KKN) and PLP abroad, where currently there are 6 people carrying out PLP KKN in Thailand.

Dimyati also emphasized the importance of student exchanges between campuses, both at the national and international level, as one of IPI Garut's pride.

"This inter-campus national event has been implemented several years ago, and last year we studied in America, there were 4 people from English. So this semester in America is extraordinary," he said. (rdp*)