Newborn and Kampus Merdeka This article has been published on banjarmasinpost.co.id and

THOUSANDS of prospective students scattered throughout Indonesia, Sunday (5/7/2020), drained their brains. To become a student at a public university spread across the republic, they first take the Computer-Based Writing Test (UTBK) in the 2020 State University Joint Entrance Selection (SBMPTN).

To avoid or prevent new clusters of Covid-19 from occurring, all participants are required to comply with the COVID-19 protocol. Therefore, before entering the test room, one by one the UTBK participants were checked for body temperature by the committee. In addition, participants are also required to wear masks and others. Hopefully, after the UTBK there will be no participants exposed to the corona, including the UTBK participants at Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) South Kalimantan.

At ULM, there were 8.346 participants who took part in the UTBK. The number of participants consisted of participants who chose the regular route 6.872 people and the KIP-Kuliah path 1.474 people. They competed for 3.144 seats.

For participants who did not pass the SBMPTN, do not be discouraged. The best state university in South Kalimantan, accredited A, still opens up opportunities for new students in the independent path, which is 2.184 seats. This independent quota can be increased if there is more left in the SBMPTN line that is not filled.

What's interesting about this SBMPTN, participants who pass or new students (Maba) will 'not' feel the Program Kampus Merdeka. Because the news is currently circulating, the Ministry of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim is included in the list of ministers affected by the reshuffle. If the news is true, Policy Kampus Merdeka only the name remains. Because usually, different ministers have different policies.

We support Policy Kampus Merdeka, which was launched by Nadiem, Friday (24/1/2020). Because one of the four policies from Nadiem is related to the semester credit system (SKS). Nadeim is trying to change the definition of SKS which is no longer defined as hours of study, but hours of activities.

With this new system, students are entitled to take courses outside the study program for two semesters or the equivalent of 40 credits. Because its form is now 'hours of activity', SKS here has a broader meaning: it does not only take the form of learning in class, eid ul adha greetings but also includes internships, student exchanges, entrepreneurship, research, independent studies, as well as teaching activities in remote areas.

Hopefully, in the course of Policy Kampus Merdeka this does not get a stumbling block. I hope students don't become victims of the policy Kampus Merdeka. Even if later the Ministry of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim is indeed affected by a reshuffle, policy Kampus Merdeka must keep going.