Jakarta (Pendis) --- Director General of Islamic Education of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Muhammad Ali Ramdhani received guests from Institut Francais Indonesie (IFI) in his office (24/10). The representatives are Jules Irrmann, Cooperation Counsellor/Director of IFI from the French Embassy, Mathilda Mallet, Director of Campus France Asia, Antonie Bricout, University Cooperation Attaché and several IFI Deputy Attachés.

On the occasion, the Director General expressed his desire to provide opportunities for PTKI students to study at French universities. 

"We are very happy if PTKI can cooperate with universities in France. We believe that there are many good universities in France, and our students need to be introduced to France, a country that has an important position in the world," he said.

According to this professor of UIN Bandung, the cooperation can be directed through the MOSMA programme (MORA Overseas Student Mobility Awards) funded by the BIB LPDP scholarship. This year, several PTKI students have been send off to several countries, including the USA, Australia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. 

"The most likely cooperation is sending about 100 PTKI students to the MOSMA programme. They can learn soft skills in fields that are not heavy, such as culture, communication, management, public speaking, and others. The requirement is not necessarily French, but with intermediate English ability," he continued.

This proposal was welcomed by IFI. In fact, Jules said that he had visited UIN North Sumatra in Medan and also several madrasas. Therefore, he wants to foster better and more cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

"We want to co-operate with the Ministry of Religious Affairs again, as we have in the past. Many Indonesian students study in various universities in France," he said.

Meanwhile, Mathilda said that she supports and committed to facilitating PTKI students who will be selected to get the opportunity to study in France. 

"In France, there are around 1000 Indonesian students studying at various universities in France. We want Indonesian students to have the opportunity to study more in France. We are ready to help and assist. We can start with at least 5 universities in France," she added. 

Attending the meeting were Director of GTK, M. Zain, Head of Sub-Directorate of Institutional and Cooperation of Directorate of PTKI, Thobib Al Asyhar, Head of Sub-Directorate of Institutional and Cooperation of KSKK, Papay Supriyatna, and Public Relations of Pendis.