Indonesia Student Disability Support: Business Trip Report
On our second day in Indonesia, we conducted a pre-departure training session at the Pijar Foundation for the upcoming Japan training program scheduled for late August. When implementing technical cooperation projects, we place great importance on both the Japan training itself and the preparatory training conducted prior to it. These two components go hand-in-hand, with local activities following the Japan training serving as the third critical element.
On the first day, Indonesian facilitators led a Disability Equality Training (DET) session, followed by hospitality and interaction training tailored to physical, hearing, and visual disabilities.
Participants joined from the five Indonesian universities taking part in the Japan training:
UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh
Universitas Bina Mandiri Gorontalo
UNIVERSITAS PGRI ARGOPURO JEMBER
Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Kalla
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember
With two representatives attending from each institution, a total of 10 participants joined today’s session. Following the DET and hospitality training, our Japanese team gave self-introductions, and each university presented an overview of their institution.
Here is a brief summary of each university's key characteristics:
UIN Ar-Raniry University: Located in Banda Aceh at the northernmost tip of Sumatra. The university serves approximately 13 to 17 students with disabilities. They recently established a Disability Support Office and are currently drafting support plans centered around deaf students. Two highly dedicated faculty members attended, and it was notable that they cited overcoming prejudice against students with disabilities as their primary challenge.
Bina Mandiri University: Located on Sulawesi Island in eastern Indonesia. They set up a Disability Support Office in 2024, currently supporting 14 students with disabilities. Ms. Ayu, a Japanese-speaking faculty member, attended alongside the head of the support office. Although their program is newly established, their strong drive to create an inclusive educational environment as a central comprehensive university in northern Sulawesi—and the only one in the region accepting students with disabilities—left a strong impression.
PGRI ARGOPURO JEMBER University: Located in East Java, this university has 189 students with disabilities—the highest among the five participating universities and one of the highest in all of Indonesia. Most of these students receive scholarships. While the university operates a student support office, standard operating procedures are not yet fully established, leaving services unformalized. They expressed a strong desire to learn from Japan how to address academic challenges faced by students with disabilities. We were also delighted to welcome a faculty member with a disability to the training.
Kalla Institute of Technology and Business: A new institution founded in 2019 in Makassar, South Sulawesi, which has recently begun offering disability support for its 17 students with disabilities. Lacking technical expertise due to their recent start, they are eager to learn from this project. They also shared ambitious plans to make the Disability Support Office a central pillar of student support across the entire university.
Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS): A top-tier national university in Surabaya, East Java, with roughly 30,000 students. It currently has 23 students with disabilities. A Disability Support Office was established by rectorial decree in 2025. Because it is so new, support methodologies are not yet standardized, and they hope to gain extensive insights from this project. As our team is scheduled to visit their campus during this trip, we are really looking forward to seeing their facilities firsthand.
