Education plays an important part in its contribution to improving our quality of life. The government increasingly feels the role of education in building and developing the nation. Therefore, one of the Government Work Plan 2020 (RKP) is to prepare quality human resources by applying long-distance education that is useful to reach students at 3T (underdeveloped, developed, external) areas.

In supporting the government program, Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) Medan inaugurated the Center for Long-Distance Learning (PBJJ) program under the Communications Study Program. The execution of the PBJJ program is aimed to provide a wider access for citizens who are eager to pursue their Strata 1 (S1) education but who are unable to do so due to distance and time.

The program, which was inaugurated on 23 November 2019, is aimed for people of North Sumatera and its surroundings who are unable to enter university or study properly due to limitations in access and resources. The high flexibility offered by the program enables students to manage their learning time with basic Learning Management System (LMS) as a replacement to a face-to-face class setting.

Stella Stefani, Head of PBJJ program, said, “With its high flexibility, UPH is committed to protecting the quality of learning through standardization of teaching material, which is managed by the main campus (UPH Lippo Village). The teaching materials used are developed by professional educators with good credibility on infrastructure and technology.”

Stefani added that the program provides online learning to produce S1 graduates who are competent and professional in Communications. This is so that they are able to compete in the industrial era and to anticipate the development of 5G technologies such that a technology reformation is needed in higher educational institutes.

The inauguration of PBJJ is a series of Meet and Greet events titled “It’s Your Time: Begin, Be Bold, Be Wise”. There were around 1,000 participants who are mostly high school students. The event is a chance for high school students at Medan and its surroundings to receive information on university activities at UPH Medan, student-led activities, and scholarship offers.