"Lectures nowadays are not only face-to-face because we also provide opportunities for students to do off-campus activities as an implementation of independent campus learning," said Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs of UNY, Prof. Siswantoyo. Regarding Bangka Belitung Province, UNY currently has many alumni from this province. UNY oversees the assignment of scholarship students from Bangka Belitung, and the results of their learning can be seen in the track record submitted to the delegation from the provincial government. According to the Vice Rector, one of them is education to improve welfare. Therefore Siswantoyo offered the Bangka Belitung Provincial Government team to send students for master's and doctoral degrees further studies both within the Provincial Government and for students currently studying at UNY because investment in education is very extraordinary. Even teachers in Bangka Belitung who are still having diploma degrees still cannot get teacher certification, Siswantoyo offers S1 level education through the Recognition of Past Learning (RPL) program as UNY has done with Asmat and Boven Digul Districts of South Papua. In addition to further studies, UNY is also ready to increase capacity, such as teacher capacity, mindset change, and anticipate changes.
"There are 16 universities that cooperate with us," said Sulaiman from the Bangka Belitung Provincial Government. The scholarship money for Bangka Belitung students includes tuition fees and living costs. The Bangka Belitung Provincial Government would like to thank UNY for equipping the students with the knowledge, hoping they can pass on their expertise to the community. Sulaiman emphasized that the Bangka Belitung Provincial Government will extend this collaboration by sending 15 to 20 Special Education teachers in 2024. For the students, Sulaiman advised them to maintain their dignity and study diligently to get a good GPA.
The number of Bangka Belitung cooperation students is 31 people in the Faculty of Education and Psychology (FIPP), Faculty of Language Arts and Culture (FBSB), and Faculty of Engineering (FT). In the Faculty of Education and Psychology of UNY, nine students from the Special Education and Guidance Counseling study programs. In the Faculty of Language, Arts, and Culture, there is one student from the English Education study program, and for Faculty of Engineering has 21 students from the Electronics Engineering Education, Mechanical Engineering Education, Automotive Engineering Education, Food Engineering Education, Fashion Education, Mechatronics Engineering Education, Electrical Engineering Education, and Informatics Engineering Education study programs.
