Asia University (AU), Taiwan, was selected as one of the 52 partner universities around the world by the “Indonesian International Vocational Student Mobility Awards (IISMA).” Prof. Yinghuei Chen, Dean of the International College, said that AU was honored to work with the Indonesian government to provide academic training and internships for Indonesian vocational students. Five departments at AU, including Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering; Department of Business Administration; Department of Accounting and Information Systems; Department of Finance; and Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, have proposed tailor-made programs to accommodate the needs of the coming Indonesian students.

The IISMA program, initiated by the Ministry of Technology, Research and Higher Education, Indonesia, selects 52 universities from 11 countries to be their partner universities and offers incentives to Indonesian students to study abroad and to gain international experience and perspectives. The Indonesian government offers full scholarship packages which includes tuition fee, registration fee, living allowances, PCR test fee, quarantine fee and health insurance to the students who are selected for this program. The partner university in turn will provide practical and job-enhancing courses and internship opportunities for a duration of 4 to 6 months.

In AU’s proposal for the IISMA program, three types of programs are provided to meet the students’ need: 1. Industrial Experience Program, 2. Classroom-based learning + Industrial experiences, 3. Classroom-based learning. In addition to academic learning, AU will provide internship opportunities for these students to visit brand-name companies and to learn some practical skills in industry.

AU established its Indonesia Taiwan Education Center in Surabaya in 2017 under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Taiwan. The center promotes Taiwan education by hosting a wide variety of activities such as the Taiwan Higher Education Fair, the Rector/President Forum, and Mandarin teachers’ professional development programs. Airlangga University also set up its Center of Indonesian Studies on AU campus to promote Indonesian studies. Both sides display strong interest and motivation to strengthen and deepen their academic cooperation and cultural understanding.

To provide more first-hand information about studying at Asia University, IISMA invited Dean Yinghuei Chen, the International College, Dean Ching-Hsien Hsu, College of Information and Electrical Engineering, and Dean Chun-Wei Lin, College of Management, to hold an online meeting with interested Indonesian students and to answer their questions. The students are scheduled to come to Taiwan at the end of August before the AU new semester begins. In mid-September, AU is ready to welcome all the IISMA students. “This project,” Dean Chen stated with confidence, “will definitely further strengthen the higher education ties between Indonesia and Taiwan.