Ir. Achmad Wicaksono, M.Eng., Ph.D. lecturers of the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya (FTUB) received a new mandate as Education and Cultural Attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok since March 16, 2021.

Based on the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture Number 126371/MPK.A/KP/2020 the former Head of the Institute for Educational Development and Quality Assurance (LP3M) UB will held this position for at least threee years (2021-2024).

Sony, his nickname, said that he registered in August last year. The next process he took is a series of written tests, interviews, and presentations in English.

When registering, he said there were seven countries that he could choose, he decided on Thailand because of his experience in living in that country when he studied his master’s at the Asian Institute of Engineering (AIT).

After being declared qualified in November, he had to take a complete series of medical tests.

On December 15, 2020 a decree from the Ministry of Education and Culture was issued, stated that he was chosen as an Education and Culture Attaché.

It was at the end of January 2021 that a decree was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that he was appointed as Education Attaché for Bangkok.

“We called it, borrowed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.

He conveyed that the scope of duties of the Education and Culture Attache (Atdikbud) includes establishing cooperation in the fields of education and culture between Indonesia and Thailand, helping if Indonesian students studying in Thailand experience difficulties, and handling the Indonesian Bangkok School and the Indonesian Yangon (Myanmar) School.

Until now, Thailand is known to excel in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and information technology, so, one of the work programs is to strengthen university research collaboration between the two countries in these fields.

He is still working on other work programs with the team. He said that because he just moved from another foreign country during the pandemic, he had to go through 2 weeks of independent isolation at the hotel before he could attend and work at the Indonesian Embassy.

According to this Civil Engineering lecturer, the strict health protocol enforced by Thailand also illustrates the progress of education in the country.

Then he hopes that more lecturers in UB are willing to apply to become Education Attaches, in order to expand UB cooperation network with various institutions in various countries.

“If there’s any lecturer who want to consult on how to become attaché, please welcome to consult with me,” said this transportation expert concluded. (siti rahma/mic)