TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Padjadjaran University (Unpad) has recorded 44 students affected by the flood disaster in the Sumatra region. These students are prioritized in the scholarship program and receive assistance to fulfill all their academic needs.
"Unpad also plans to gather them in the near future to check for any assistance needed to support their daily lives here," said the Director of Unpad's Student Affairs, Inu Isnaeni Sidiq, on Monday, December 8, 2025.
Up to this point, Unpad continues to coordinate with various parties to ensure the academic continuity of the affected students. This effort is Unpad's commitment to ensure all academic communities have access to proper education amidst the emergency disaster conditions. Additionally, since Friday, December 5, 2025, Unpad's volunteer team, part of the Padjadjaran Rescue Communication Forum, has been actively supporting emergency flood and landslide operations in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.
The first team consists of 14 personnel from Unpad's Search and Rescue (SAR), the Student Regiment, Mahatva Faculty of Agriculture, and the Alumni Family Association. They are divided into search and rescue teams as well as logistical teams to fulfill urgent needs of the survivors in the field. On Saturday, December 6, 2025, the search team, together with the joint team of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), surveyed the river flow in the Palembayan District, Salareh Aia, to conduct mapping and evacuation in the flood-affected areas.
Meanwhile, the logistics team distributed aid such as food, drinking water, milk, vitamins, and baby and women's supplies to the affected areas, while also holding trauma healing sessions to assist in the psychological recovery of the survivors.
From Unpad's website, the search for victims and distribution of aid continued until Sunday, December 7, 2025. Unpad's volunteers, along with Basarnas, combed through affected settlements in three different sectors to expand the range of assistance and support the mobilization of emergency needs in the field.
As of now, Unpad's volunteers remain on standby and continue coordinating with Basarnas in conducting search and distributing humanitarian aid at the disaster site. Unpad will strengthen support for emergency flood and landslide response in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra through the deployment of the next phase of volunteers.
To ensure the readiness of the volunteers, training will be conducted on campus on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. This activity serves as technical preparation before additional volunteers are dispatched to the affected areas. "The departure plan will be as soon as possible," said Inu Isnaeni.
A number of students will participate in this training to strengthen the volunteers' readiness. The training participants come from various student activity units with competence in disaster management, namely SAR Unpad, the Student Regiment, Scouts, the Mountaineering Students Association, the Volunteer Corps of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), as well as several nature lover units at the university and faculty level. Through this training, they will be equipped with technical understanding related to nursing, disaster psychology, and emergency response procedures.
In the next departure group, professional personnel will also be prepared to strengthen humanitarian services, including five doctors, three psychologists, two medical professional students, and two nursing professional students. With this support, Unpad strives to ensure that each volunteer is physically and mentally prepared, as well as capable of providing appropriate assistance to the affected community in the field.
From a copy of the letter obtained by Tempo, the Director General of Higher Education, Khairul Munadi, on December 3, 2025, requested the support of state university leaders and heads of higher education service institutions under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.
The unimpacted universities in the area are expected to provide support according to their capacity, in the form of logistics, health services, psychosocial support, provision of emergency learning spaces, and other relevant aid. The distribution of aid is to be coordinated with the Campus Command Post as stated in the attached list to ensure effectiveness and avoid duplication of handling.
Universities are also asked to carry out a data collection of students from families in the affected areas, including current condition information and urgent needs that can affect academic continuity. For private universities, data collection processes are coordinated through the Head of the Higher Education Regional Office in their respective work areas. This data can be sent via the ministry's email address.
Universities are asked to pay special attention to students from the affected areas, including through policies such as single tuition fee relief, living expenses assistance, facilitating learning, or other support in accordance with the conditions and availability of resources in each university.
Read: Unpad Ranked Among Top 100 Universities in Asia
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
