IAINU Tuban International Office has held a Socialisation and Partnership Forum: Academic and Institutional Journey in Malaysia

Tuban – The International Office of the Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic Institute in Tuban held a Socialisation and Partnership Forum: Academic and Institutional Journey in Malaysia on Monday, 9 March 2026. This online event featured Ihyaul Lazib, founder of the Malaysia-based academic network Jalur Langit, as a guest speaker. The forum was held as part of efforts to strengthen the internationalisation of higher education, while also opening up opportunities for academic cooperation between educational institutions in Indonesia and Malaysia. The event was attended by the IAINU Tuban academic community, leaders of higher education institutions, and international office administrators. In his presentation, Ihyaul Lazib explained that Malaysia is currently developing as one of the regional education centres in Southeast Asia with a competitive education system and a multicultural academic environment. These conditions make Malaysia a strategic partner for Indonesian universities in building international collaboration. He emphasised that cooperation between universities should not merely be limited to the signing of memoranda of understanding, but should be realised in the form of implementable and sustainable programmes. “International cooperation should result in tangible programmes, such as student mobility, joint research, and academic collaboration that directly benefit institutions and the academic community,” he said during the forum. The forum also presented various academic programmes opportunities that could be developed through partnerships with educational institutions in Malaysia. These included student exchanges, joint research, visiting lecturers, and the joint organisation of seminars and academic colloquiua. In addition, students also have the opportunity to participate in Field Experience Programmes and International Community Service Program activities in Malaysia. Students can be placed in schools for Indonesian citizens in Malaysia or local educational institutions such as formal schools, tahfiz madrasah, Islamic boarding schools, and social education centres. This forum also discusses student internship opportunities in various sectors, ranging from government agencies and state-owned enterprises to private industries in Malaysia. Through this activity, the International Office of IAINU Tuban hopes to expand its international academic network while enhancing the institution's competitiveness at the global level. The socialisation forum is also expected to be the first step in designing more concrete and sustainable international cooperation programmes for lecturers and students. With the increasing openness of cross-border collaboration, universities are expected to be able to prepare human resources with global competencies who are able to contribute to the development of higher education at the international level.