Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) officially announces Pojok Kependudukan (Population Corner) initiated by the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) on Tuesday (25/7) at lobby of Research, Publication, and Community Service Office (LP3M). The event was attended by Directorate General of Population Control Planning of BKKBN Drs. Benny Benu, M.Si. The corner establishment aims at raising students’ awareness of population issues, particularly in Yogyakarta. The Pojok Kependudukan is located in lobby of LP3M, Building D, and it opens to public who needs information of population.
“Government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other parties have not yet given entire attention the population issues. For instance, government lacks concerns of the implementation of local population planning document formulation. Thus, a contribution of a higher education institution through cooperating with the BKKBN to establish the Pojok Kependududkan can assist the BKKN promote population issues to students,” expressed Benny.
He mentioned that government provides less attention to early-age marriage issues, and the government’s belief of the issue is not in line with what government and the BKKBN have determined. “According to Law No. 1/1974, women are allowed to marry at 16, at least, while the BKKBN decided that women may marry when they are 20. The difference leads to unrestrained population growth in Yogyakarta from 1.03 percent to 1.04 percent. Yogyakarta is a province with the greatest number of elderly and early marriage issues in Indonesia so that the number of people at productive age is low,” stated Benny.
Meanwhile, in his remark, Vice Rector for Human Resource Affairs Dr. Nano Prawoto, S.E., M.Si told that the cooperation program between the BKKN and UMY will be applied in 20 teams of a community service in this semester. “The students performing the community service are expected to be able to promote the issues to the community and conduct research on issues of poverty, health, food, population growth, and productive age. Poverty in Indonesia increases as well. Therefore, both issues should be controlled,” declared Dr. Nano.
The announcement of Pojok Kependudukan was followed by the other official declaration that UMY sent 2,971 students divided into 300 groups to undertake a community service in 9 regencies in Yogyakarta, namely Gunung Kidul, Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta city, Bantul and Sleman as well as in four regencies outside Yogyakarta, namely Magelang, Klaten, Boyolali, and Purworejo. A staff of Community Service Division of UMY Aditia Taruna, M.S. mentioned several types of the community service which are Mubaligh Hijrah counted 271 groups, Association in 3T (the frontier, outermost, and remote) regions counted 159 groups, and an international community service counted 30 students. “Indeed, 20 teams doing a community service in this semester, UMY cooperates with the BKKBN,” he informed. Besides announcing the Pojok Pendidikan, the BKKBN inaugurated organizers of Masiswa Peduli Kependudukan (Students Caring for Population) of 2017-2019.
