Global Development and Education MA
With this letter, I want to state my interest and apply for the master's degree Program in Global Development and Education MA at the University of Leeds, which starts in September of 2023. I firmly believe that continuing my education at Leeds University which is one of the most prestigious and reputable universities in the UK is a substantial step to elevate my academic qualification, reducing my knowledge gap in developing insight that will widen my career possibilities and help me to set up a significant contribution to facing the challenges of global development and education in my country ...........
My name is..................., I am from ........... I graduated with a degree in Education from ............. in ................. My passion for global development and education emerged when I was a college student in 2015. This was evoked because I grew up in one of the poorest and most underdeveloped provinces in............, namely............. *****, like any other underdeveloped region, has diverse social problems such as high poverty rates, low levels of education, high illiteracy rates, malnutrition, conflicts, and criminality problems. As an education major student, I felt concerned about these problems and began to participate in reducing social inequality, especially in the field of education. For this reason, in 2015, my friends and I initiated a local community that we called "The Future Children". Through this community, we held reading and writing classes for native ............ who did not go to school so they would become literate. This community then developed over time and expanded its coverage into the health sector, such as teaching children to maintain personal hygiene and providing nutritious food for children from impoverished families. This experience shaped my perception of human development through community development and then steered me to join local non-profit organizations working in educational and other socio-economic fields.
********** is a very large archipelagic country and the location of the areas are scattered on several larger islands that are mostly far away from the capital city of .................. This has inflicted inequality in development due to the difficulty of access to remote areas in ............ In addition, political conflicts between the government and community groups, unreachable access to education, high corruption, terrorism, and poverty are urgent global challenges and obstacles to the development process in Indonesia which simultaneously threatens development at the regional level. Courses from this program such as education in emergencies, global politics of health, conflict, complex emergencies and global governance, global inequalities and development, and counterterrorism are global challenges that transpire prevalently in .................... These global development issues with a broad scope of various related sectors require practitioners with comprehensive knowledge and critical understanding to address local issues, also multidisciplinary insights and experience in the field to manage and find practical solutions in dealing with problems, develop new strategies, sharpen analysis and comparative approaches in a global perspective to solve complex local issues. Through studying Global Development and Education at the University of Leeds, I will learn to analyze related data, construct clear arguments, and assess options to take action about various aspects of development and education practice, such as the theoretical and analytical principles of managing development projects to become an active agent of change that develops practical skills to address global and local development challenges.
Working with the ..................... as part of the.................., a local NGO, for almost 2 years since 2021 has helped me to develop my understanding of global development and education. As someone who has a passion for bringing about change, thinks creatively, and enthusiastically, and is goal-oriented I have learned to face challenges in development, especially in education aspects such as limited access to education, inequality, sociocultural conflicts spreading to the economy, and health issues. During the opportunity to work with this organization, I worked as a secretary for 1 year. My job was to build relationships with the community and related institutions, find sponsors, provide learning modules, and design projects that will be implemented such as training and learning for school-age children who do not get proper access to education.
Due to my high enthusiasm and dedication to becoming an agent of change, I am also active in local youth community development based on religious organizations. I was elected for 5 years since 2017 as a leader of the community. During my leadership, I planned sustainable programs related to economic development in the form of youth business training, as well as campaigns to reduce crime and violence caused by alcohol addiction. Furthermore, as my concern and response to global issues such as covid 19, I initiated a fundraising project to help residents with low-income levels whose businesses are affected by covid 19 to provide for their daily needs.
Intending to continue my ambition to establish a professional career in development fields, I encountered several obstacles particularly due to my limited knowledge regarding global development academically and theoretically. I recognized these boundaries when I was invited to represent my organization to take part in a national youth dialogue in 2021 that involved institutions, academics, and communities. The dialogue aimed to discuss social development issues during the Covid 19 pandemic. The presentation delivered by the development practitioners and the stakeholders has broadened my insight into global development issues. I began to realize my lack of academic and theoretical knowledge of development has limited my understanding of global development. This knowledge gap resulted in an inappropriate decision I made which was driven by my impulse not based on appropriate insight from a theoretical degree in development. This is an obstacle for me since I want to improve my career in the NGO sector and work with large development institutions such as UNDP, UNICEF, and other international organizations.
My aim to continue my master's degree at the University of Leeds is to be able to develop an understanding of global development from an educational, economic, social, and environmental perspective as well as gain professional skills. I also intend to improve my basic knowledge of project design and management to correlate it in a development context, learn to make decisions in complex and unpredictable situations, and conduct research related to the development and educational fields. In the end my ultimate goal is to become a catalyst in the development and education sector. The University of Leeds also provides a wide range of modules that I can choose according to my needs in the field of global development, namely education in development, Gender, Globalization, and Development, Theories, and Concepts in Global Political which I strongly believe are substantial to completed my gap towards critical skills in global development and education.