Corban expands its commitments within Indonesia

Shortly before Thanksgiving break I arrived back home after a fast-paced yet wonderful trip to Indonesia. God gets all the glory for what was accomplished. Three highlights stand out.

1. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the William Soeryadjaya Foundation (WSF) targeting students of low-income families that attend one of the foundation’s two schools, Ora et Labora (OeL). The students who attend OeL learn in Bahasa, the official language of Indonesia. WSF is known for its work on equity and social empowerment in Indonesia. The target of this first MOU are students who would not be able to attend university without financial support.

The other WSF school, Raffles International School, is an international school that works with high-income families and expatriate students. All instruction occurs in English. WSF wants to create a second MOU to encourage students to attend Corban University. They are eager to promote Corban due to our development of leadership characteristics in our students, and the strong discipleship and biblical training our students receive.

Both schools are focused on developing strong leaders from a Christian worldview.

2. On Thursday, Nov. 20, I signed a MOU with Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) for an International Teachers College (ITC). The new ITC department within UPH’s Teachers College (TC) will target expatriate students from all over Asia, while TC itself will continue to focus on preparing Indonesian students to become high quality teachers specifically for the Indonesian context.

Corban’s ongoing UPH partnership provides rigorous teacher preparation to national teacher candidates in Indonesia. These teachers teach both in the national schools of Indonesia and private independent schools associated with the foundation that provides organizational and financial support to UPH.

Now more than ever, Corban University is committed to preparing effective educators to raise the educational attainment of the continent of Asia and reduce poverty through high quality holistic education.

Massive and high-paced change fueled by technological innovation is sweeping across the globe, and Asia is a central part of the technological advances. Asian governments grapple with these changes as they face age-old challenges of poverty and corruption. Education is a critical element in the development of each nation’s infrastructure.

The continuance of the partnership with UPH and development of the ITC department is consistent with Corban’s strategic goals (1) to enhance and expand the teaching/learning environment where students are offered a Christ-centered education and (2) expand Corban’s global engagement.

3. On Saturday, Nov. 22, I had the opportunity to attend the latest UPH graduation ceremonies. Although we did not have any students graduating mid-year, I was able to meet Pak Din Syamsuddin, the second highest leader of the Muslim clerical party in Indonesia. His children were graduating from UPH. I was given the chance to share the story of Corban’s UPH partnership. You can read more at http://www.uph.edu/component/wmnews/new/1971-wisuda-xxvi-uph-artikel-2.html.