UNIMALNEWS | Fukuoka – Muhammad Fikry is among seven lecturers from Universitas Malikussaleh pursuing doctoral degree in Japan. He is currently enrolled as a doctoral student at Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in  Fukuoka. Fikry had been in Japan for 4 months before the Coronavirus broke out and became a pandemic. Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency on April 7, 2020 for seven prefectures - Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Hyogo, Osaka and Fukuoka. Then the state of emergency was extended to all parts of Japan on April 16, 2020 and will be in force until May 31, 2020. Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, some measures have been taken by the university to make sure the lecture and research activities to continue. 

Fukuoka was one of the earliest prefectures in Japan enforcing emergency situation. During this emergency period the government has been encouraging the citizens to stay at home and closing down businesses and universities. Kyutech immediately implemented an appeal made by the government to close the campus and forbid lecturers, students and employees from entering the campus area. However, under certain conditions it is still allowed after submitting an application and obtaining permission from the campus authorities.  
To Unimalnews, on Monday (06/05/2020), Fikry said that the campus provides alternatives for lecture modes ranging from e-learning systems to video conferencing. The campus facilitates lecturers by making online classes and providing virtual face-to-face rooms for each class in their courses. Lecture materials have also been prepared and uploaded no later than one week before lectures so students in the class can study them before lectures begin. For students who have limited internet access, the campus allows them to come to campus, of course with the rules that must be obeyed, while the teaching and learning process remains online.

Fikry further added that for access to the campus system which previously could only be done on the internal campus network, now a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is provided complete with its configuration to the Kyutech academic community so that it can be accessed from anywhere. Related to research, all research projects that use the field survey method have been postponed. ”However, for research that uses tools available only on campus, certain schedules are given so that it can still run well. Meanwhile, the conference will still be held online”, said Fikry. 

Fikry hopes that this pandemic will end soon and things can get back normal again.[kur]