Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) was once again appointed to host Muhammadiyah Scholarship Preparation Program (MSPP) Batch V from Muhammadiyah Council for Higher Education, Research, and Development (CHERD). The 3-month program, MSPP, was located at the Islamic International Boarding School (Pesma Internasional) KH. Mas Mansur UMS. It is a program for Muhammadiyah cadres/activists and lecturers of Muhamamdiyah and ‘Aisyiyah Higher Education Institutions (MHEI) to prepare for their studies at the master or doctoral level abroad.

The Director of Pesma Internasional KH. Mas Mansur, Muamaroh, P.hD said that this program aims to improve the English proficiency and scholarship preparation of Muhammadiyah’s progressive cadres. “Then, we hope that they will be able to access Masters/Doctoral scholarships overseas, either through the Indonesian government or other scholarship providers,” said the Director of Pesma on Saturday (10/12).

According to her, MSPP Batch V was special because it was only held in one place, namely Pesma UMS while previously, it was held in two different places. “During this period, only one batch was opened. It is the beginning of studying together, and next week, we will take a campus tour, especially to get to know the UMS campus better,” she added.

In her remarks, Muamaroh asked Vice Chancellor IV and V to share lessons to welcome the participants of MSPP Batch V. “ Prof. Em. Sutrisna can provide more guidance to the development of Islamic and Muhammadiyah Studies (AIK), especially in the commitment to improve the organization, while Prof. Supriyono can provide an introduction of the program so it can produce various collaborations or products that might be useful,” she explained.

Prof. Em. Sutrisna, M.Kes as Vice Chancellor IV welcomed 25 participants who were selected from hundreds of applicants for MSPP Batch V. “To emphasize the AIK, it will be a tahsin program, the program will be in 3 months. The program will improve the participants’ ability and hopefully, these 25 people will achieve what they want,” he said.

On the same occasion, Vice Chancellor V for Cooperation and International Affairs, Prof. Supriyono, S.T., MT, PhD mentioned this program to accommodate the needs of lecturers or students in pursuing higher education overseas. “Currently, the scholarships are limited. Once, being a lecturer requires a master’s degree. But the condition is different from now, most of the qualifications are doctoral degrees. So the competition is getting tighter, “he said.

According to him, it was caused by a stringent requirement, because studying abroad must meet the required qualifications. Later, it is hoped that there will be a scholarship interview simulation due to its essential indicator in scholarship. [] UMS