Australia Indonesia Partnership

Media Release
Friday, 26 January, 2007

The vision for a new generation of health professionals in Aceh takes a major step forward today, with the handover to Poltekkes of a key health training centre restored by the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development, an Australian Government initiative.

The health workforce training laboratories in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam have been newly refurbished through and include upgraded nutrition, microbiology and environmental health laboratories.

Poltekkes is the key health training centre in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. Its facilities were significantly damaged in the December 2004 tsunami, which also claimed the lives of a number of academic staff and students.

Australia provided A$550,000 for construction, procurement of equipment, provision of learning materials and associated training to operate the newly repaired and refurbished laboratories, which were previously student dormitories.

Australia is also assisting to build the capacity of teachers and trainers to introduce problem-based learning into the education of the health workforce in Aceh.

AusAID’s Raha Roggero attended the handover ceremony, and emphasized the importance of training institutions to focus on practical teaching and improving the quality of learning to meet the Indonesian National Standards.

The Head of the Ministry of Health Poltekkes, Pak Zailani, said Poltekkes was once again equipped and ready to fulfill its responsibility for training the allied health professional workforce of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

“I really believe the facilities and equipment provided to the Poltekkes laboratories are a real benefit to the people of Aceh and will enable us to provide high quality learning experiences for my 2006 intake of students”, Pak Zailani said.

Further Information

Kate Shanahan (Program Manager AusAID) 0651 740 7549