In front of young lecturers, Antoni Tsaputra, UNP PLB Lecturer Shares Inspirational Stories as a Person with Disabilities and Overseas Scholarship Recipient
Padang - Lecturer of the Department of Special Education (PLB), Faculty of Education (FIP), Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP) Antoni Tsaputra, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. was invited to share his experience about further studies in front of young UNP lecturers at the Universitas Negeri Padang Lecturer Career Competency Development event at the UNP Auditorium, Wednesday (24/7/2024).
He shared how his life journey in pursuing education to complete his doctoral studies with a scholarship from the Education Fund Management Institution at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia in 2015 and graduated in 2019.
“My condition has never prevented me from pursuing general education. I have always had a map for my life. From high school I already had a map of where I wanted to study, even from junior high school I already had aspirations to continue my education abroad,” he said.
“My condition didn't hinder what I wanted to do, it was factors outside of myself such as the environment, facilities for people with disabilities and the stigma in society that hindered me. But when I did my study abroad, I really did not experience any obstacles at all,” she explained.
In a session that was enthusiastically followed by the young lecturers, he also advised the young UNP lecturers who are the future of UNP later to tear down the thought of 'feeling enough'. “Never feel enough. Break down that kind of thinking from within all of you,” he added.
It is known that Antoni Tsaputra earned his undergraduate degree in the English Literature department at Andalas University then during his Masters, he received an Australian Award Scholarship at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia in the field of Journalism and Mass Communication. For the doctoral level, he received a scholarship from the Education Fund Management Institution at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia.
Upon his return to Indonesia after completing his Masters, he took the initiative to establish a branch of the National Organization of Persons with Disabilities (DPO) in Padang. Through this organization, he consistently advocates for the rights of people with disabilities, empowering and encouraging them to defend their rights in society.
He has also been invited to speak at various seminars and webinars on disability inclusion in development both in Indonesia and internationally. In 2022, he received the Promoting Women's Empowerment and Social Inclusion Award from Australia Awards Indonesia. In 2023, he was also selected as a Fulbright for the US-ASEAN Visiting Scholar program, in recognition of his expertise and contributions in the field of disability inclusion. (Utr/Humas UNP)
