Mataram, University of Mataram – The Institute for Research and Community Service of the University of Mataram (LPPM Unram) held a withdrawal activity for students of the Real Work Lecture (KKN) for Village Community Empowerment (PMD) on Wednesday (7/2). This activity took place in a hybrid manner, via zoom and the Village Office in each KKN PMD location.

In this activity attended by the Head of LPPM Unram, Prof. Dr. Ir. Sukartono, M.Agr. accompanied by Dr. Ir. Misbahuddin, ST., MT., IPU. as Head of KKN and Cooperation Management Center; Dr. Ni Wayan Sri Suliartini, SP., MP. as Secretary of KKN Service LPPM Unram; Field Supervisors (DPL); Village Consultative Body (BPD), Village Head and students who participated in the PMD KKN program.

Dr. Ir. Misbahuddin, ST., MT., IPU. as Head of the KKN and Cooperation Management Centre reported that, “The number of students registered to participate in the KKN PMD programme this period is 2662 students spread across 179 villages in 4 districts on Lombok Island, namely: West Lombok Regency with 225 students spread across 27 villages; North Lombok Regency with 271 students spread across 27 villages; East Lombok Regency with 797 students spread across 81 villages; and North Lombok Regency with 454 students spread across 46 villages”.

The implementation of KKN PMD in this period, the LPPM Unram KKN Management Centre collaborated with the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) with the theme of Disaster Resilient Villages (DESTANA) with a total of 300 students spread across 30 villages, with a total distribution of Field Supervisors (DPL) spread across 4 districts with a number: West Lombok 25 DPL, North Lombok 27 DPL, East Lombok 71 DPL, and Central Lombok 46 DPL.

Furthermore, the Faculty of Engineering lecturer explained, “The implementation of KKN PMD in this period went smoothly and there were no accidents and other problems like the implementation in the previous period. This shows that the level of student compliance is increasing and the management of KKN shows a much better change”.

The target of KKN PMD is the village. Villages become the target of KKN due to the problems faced, so that many hamper the government programmes that have been launched. This phenomenon can be seen from the source of life only relying on one sector. This will certainly be an obstacle to smooth development in Indonesia. Therefore, universities are deemed necessary to play a role in involving students in development through real work lectures.

On the same occasion, the Head of LPPM Unram, Prof. Dr. Ir. Sukartono, M.Agr. in his speech expressed his gratitude to BPBD NTB Province and village governments in 4 districts on Lombok Island who have become LPPM Unram partners.

“This is a pride for LPPM Unram to be able to collaborate with stakeholders in an effort to solve problems in the village and optimise the potential of the existing village, for this reason, LPPM Universitas Mataram will continue to strive for the sustainability of the KKN program by conducting a partner satisfaction survey, in this case the village government, to obtain feedback on the quality of KKN implementation as well as to capture input suggestions for improving the quality of KKN in the next period,” said Prof. Sukartono.

“The implementation of KKN PMD activities will not only benefit the village, but also the University of Mataram in supporting the acquisition of Key Performance Indicators (IKU) so that it continues to spur Unram’s development towards a better Higher Education Cluster,” added Prof. Sukartono.

KKN activities as one of the interventions of higher education contain several important things, namely, education, research, and community service. As an educational activity, through KKN students are introduced directly to the community and its problems, as well as to inter-sectoral or interdisciplinary ways of working. In relation to research, KKN activities are an effort to involve students to examine and formulate complex problems, examine the potentials and weaknesses in society and find alternative solutions. As a community service activity, through KKN activities students practice science, technology and art to solve problems faced by the community and overcome them fragmentatically.

As a follow-up after the implementation of KKN PMD, Unram will carry out Unram Mengabdi activities in Sengkol Village, Central Lombok Regency as one of Unram’s commitments and seriousness to actively involve itself in village development for regional progress.