Between the 16th and 17th of January 2014, Surya University hosted a workshop for high school students designed to encourage the development of skills in creative fields such as animation, science fiction writing, educational game design and feature journalism. Given the title 1000 Karya Generasi Indonesia Jaya, or Gen-IJ for short, this program was attended by over 60 students and supported by the university’s Digital Communications Department, the Center for Education Technology and the Surya Voyager Science Fiction Writers Center.

As a means of encouraging young minds to realize their creative potential, the Gen-IJ Workshop featured a series of hands-on training sessions such as teaching students how to write and prepare feature news stories for publication in a manner adapted to the digital era. Other tasks included creative writing games geared towards facilitating an openness to expressing ideas. The Gen-IJ Workshop also invited special needs students to partake in a graphic design course so as to further their proficiency with computer media.

Through this workshop Surya University hopes to contribute to the development of skilled human resources; a goal that is in keeping with Rector Prof. Yohanes Surya’s vision of Indonesia being able to tap into a creative and innovative labour force by 2030.