British Council Indonesia invited dozens of campuses in Indonesia to visit the Sub-directorate of Disability Services, Universitas Brawijaya, Thursday (16/5/2024). The visit was one of a series of agendas “Exploring GEDSI in Higher Education – A workshop and implementation case study” for representatives of 21 campuses receiving the Global Partnership Program (GPP) organized by the British Council.
The British Council hopes that, with this activity, recipients of the GPP program can understand the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policy. The British Council considers UB in organizing this program as a case study in implementing EDI. This is because for a long time, UB has provided disability services and has a gender studies center. By knowing more about best practices at UB, the British Council hopes that these campuses will be equipped with insights from the practices that have been carried out.
The recipient campuses of the British Council GPP are Malang State University, Padjadjaran University, Telkom University, Gadjah Mada University, Al Azhar University Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology, Sepuluh November Institute of Technology, Nahdlatul Ulama University Yogyakarta, University of Indonesia, Sebelas Maret University, Binus University, Polytechnic Batam, Udayana University, Widya Mandala Christian University Surabaya, Yogyakarta State University, Syiah Kuala University, and Universitas Brawijaya. Each campus collaborates with campuses in the United Kingdom. Each campus was represented by two people who were divided into two issues, namely disability and gender.
This series of activities started with an explanation about safeguarding, then continued with a panel discussion about mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion which was attended by Slamet Thohari (co-founder of SLD UB) and Endah Trista Agustiana (Senior Advisor on GEDSI, INKLUSI and Founder, IFORWARD) . In the next panel, participants received an explanation about the implementation of a case study for organizing an inclusive campus, which was filled by the Chair of UB SLD, Zubaidah Ningsih AS., Ph.D and the founder of UB Gender Study Center, Professor Keppi Sukesi.
Chair of SLD UB, Zubaidah Ningsih AS., Ph.D explained the challenges faced by universities in providing inclusive education. One thing he emphasized was a basic understanding of disability issues.
“The right understanding will direct us where disability services will go. Sometimes there are simple things, but maybe you don’t think about it, such as using a small table for people with physical disabilities who don’t have hands at all,” she said.
She also conveyed the importance of continuously advocating for policies at various levels, both internally in higher education and at regional and national levels. “We cannot be alone in this,” she said.
Sharing Practices and Listening Directly from Disabled Students
Apart from the two panels above, workshop participants also conducted a case study at the Universitas Brawijaya Disability Services House. They were welcomed by UB SLD administrators and students with disabilities. Explanations from the SLD UB management ranged from various aspects, starting from selection for new student admissions, mentoring, academic services, curriculum adjustments, to various things related to routine programs that need to be carried out to support inclusive education.
Disabled students who attended this visit also expressed their views regarding the implementation of inclusive education. One of them, Ayu, a student with a visual disability in the Department of Psychology, FISIP UB, also talked about how she as a blind person deals with academic activities.
“I chose here because of the academic support, as I heard before I went to college, here is sufficient for my needs,” said Ayu when she was asked by ITB representatives about why she chose UB.
The same thing was also conveyed by Duwi, a student with physical disabilities who is currently undergoing a master’s degree at UB Faculty of Computer Science. “My parents were worried about me if I was far from them. But I made them confident in my choice,” he said.
Fasya, a Deaf student in the same faculty as Duwi, also told how he previously had difficulty continuing to higher education after SMALB. “Here I get accommodation which for me is extraordinary, such as sign language interpreters and others,” said Fasya.[mahali/sitirahma/UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
