Intensive Training Co-Operative Education Program at the University of Waterloo | Risk Management, Economic Sustainability, and Actuarial Science Development in Indonesia

Scott Davis is explaining at the white board

Co-operative (Co-op) Education is an educational model linking theory and practice through meaningful experiential learning. Co-op programs have been synonymous with the University of Waterloo for nearly 60 years, and have been implemented in numerous universities across Canada.

Indonesian post-secondary institutions are currently adopting this approach to education. Being in the early stages of its implementation, the co-op education initiative involves broadening the interpretation and understanding of the significance of the co-op education philosophy. As a part of the implementation plan, the READI Project and the University of Waterloo held an intensive training course for a Dean and Lecturers from three universities, who plan to implement co-operative education programs. This five-day long course, titled “Co-operative Education Intensive Training” was held from April 31 to May 4 at the University of Waterloo with one Dean and eight Lecturers participating from Pelita Harapan University, Prasetiya Mulya University, and Sepuluh November Institute of Technology Surabaya.

The eight lecturers and Scott Davis at UWaterloo

Maydison Ginting, PhD, Chairperson of the Mathematics Business Study Program in Prasetiya Mulya University, announced that Prasetiya Mulya University has a strong commitment to implementing a successful co-op education program. He highlighted:

What we learned from the University of Waterloo, this co-op program must be carried out professionally. Therefore, we have prepared supporting infrastructure as well as human resources to manage the co-op program.

In 2018, 13 first-year students participated in the co-op program for two months from January to February.

Presenter is explaining the Power Point slide on a Co-op education program

Laurence, MT, Head of the Industrial Engineering Study Program at Pelita Harapan University, who is responsible for managing their co-operative education program, pointed out that he was glad to have attended this intensive training course and have the opportunity to learn from the experts at the University of Waterloo about the management of a comprehensive co-operative education program. Pelita Harapan University introduced a pilot co-operative education program in 2017, in which there were nine students from the Applied Mathematics Department, who took part with a work period of three months from May to August.

In general, this intensive training course provided many learning opportunities for the partnering universities of the READI Project, which are in the early stages of implementing co-operative education programs in their respective campuses. All members of the university delegations achieved consensus on collaboratively developing a co-operative education curriculum with technical assistance from the University of Waterloo through the READI Project.