Polkesyo as the host of Kick off Meeting “Strengthening the Capacity of Health Polytechnic Lecturers for International Class” initiated by Ditjend Nakes dan WHO

01 Apr 2023

2023 is set as the official year of opening international classes by several Health Polytechnics of the Ministry of Health, including Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta. The opening of international classes has been prepared for a long time and is gradually being prepared by the Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta referring to the Decree of the Head of the Health Human Resource Development and Empowerment Agency number HK.02.04/2/6190/2021. Starting from the international class pilot status by accepting foreign students in the 2022/2023 school year, Polkesyo is intensifying steps to support the idea of "going global" as one of Pollesyo's visions and in line with the health sector transformation program.

The opening of international class in academic year of 2023/2024 will engage various aspects of curriculum, facility, human resource, management, and prospective students. In teaching and learning activities, lecturers perform as facilitators sustaining the right and proper delivery of knowledge and skill to the students. Thus, they tend to produce the qualified international class outputs.

One thing that distinguishes international classes is the use of English as the language of learning communication. Therefore, all international class teachers are required to master English. In this regard, Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta was appointed by the Directorate General of Health to become the head of a pilot project to improve the competence of international class lecturers funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2023.

On Friday 31 March 2023 at the Hotel Royal Marlioboro Yogyakarta, a Kick Off meeting was held by the initiation of the Setditjend Nakes (Secretariat of Directorate General of Health Workforce). Present at the meeting were the Director of the Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta, Medan, Pontinak, and Deputy Director III of the Poltekkes Kemenkes Surabaya. It began with the activity report by the Secretary of the Directorate General of Health, Sugianto, S.K.M, M.Sc.PH and continued with directives and official opening by the Director General of Health, drg. Arianti Anaya, MKM. Then, the Acting Team Leader for Health System Strengthening of WHO Representative to Indonesia, Prof. Roderick L. Salenga, RPh, MPH gave a speech supporting the program for international class lecturers at Poltekkes Kemenkes. As a statement of commitment, the Director of Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta, Medan, Pontianak, Deputy Director III of Poltekkes Kemenkes Surabaya, Head of the UII English Department, Head of the UNY Language Service Unit , Head of the UNY Education Curriculum and Technology Department, and the representatives of UGM Nursing Study Program signed the Letter of Commitment for Implementation.

Furthermore, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was held on the preparation of an Action Plan, Timeline, and Funding Proposal moderated by Zakiyah Eke, S.Gz, M.Sc from WHO. The discussion began with the presentation on the technical implementation of the program by the Head of the Language Development Unit of the Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta, Sefi Nurhadianti, SS, M.Pd. The program includes two activities: English training for international class lecturers and writing nursing modules/teaching materials for international class students.

The FGD prompted to the agreement about the subjects, the authors, and the reviewers of the nursing modules writing program. The reviewers for modules/teaching materials will be from the UGM Nursing Study Program focusing on reviewing nursing content/materials, the UII English Language Education Study Program focusing on the language aspects, and the Head of the UNY Department of Curriculum and Educational strengthening on instructional designing aspects.