Reduced Inequalities

UNESA provides support services for people with disabilities

UNESA SDGs Center · 20 October 2026

Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA) provides support services for people with disabilities, including personal assistants, sign-based communication support, therapy and digital counselling, run by its Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas (PUID). UNESA's Rector appointed the office's staffed implementing team by decree on 17 April 2025, and the office operated and described these services through September 2026, including at a visiting school in September 2026 and a study-programme readiness meeting in August 2026.

UNESA also strengthens its disability support framework through its Disability Services Unit (Unit Layanan Disabilitas, ULD) and student-led UKM Peduli Disabilitas (UKMPD). These functions complement PUID/DIC services (Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas, 2025; Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas, 2026c; Universitas Negeri Surabaya, 2026); the available institutional reports do not establish that PUID/DIC and ULD operate as fully independent organisational structures.

Support service(s) for people with disabilities

UNESA operates the Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas (PUID), also known as the Disability Innovation Center (DIC), as its disability support service, staffed under a Rector's decree appointing its 2025 implementing team, chaired by Prof. Dr. Budiyanto, M.Pd., issued on 17 April 2025 (Universitas Negeri Surabaya, 2025a).

UNESA provides personal assistants for people with disabilities. From 19 August 2025, UNESA deployed 45 trained student companions across three campuses to assist 47 incoming students with disabilities during orientation, providing canes, wheelchairs and speech-to-text applications alongside individualised support (Universitas Negeri Surabaya, 2025b).

UNESA provides sign-based communication support and specialised child services. On 14 September 2026, PUID, led by Prof. Dr. Budiyanto, Ima Kurrotun Ainin and Silfia Asningtias, described its current services to a visiting school: Signalong Indonesia, a sign-based communication approach for a range of communicators beyond deaf users, the Unit Layanan Anak Berkebutuhan Khusus (ULABK, Special Needs Child Service Unit), and GPK (Guru Pembimbing Khusus, special education companion teachers) (Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas, 2026a).

UNESA provides therapy, counselling and reporting services, and academic accommodation. At a meeting on 31 August 2026 to prepare study programmes for newly admitted students with disabilities, PUID confirmed its operating services: ULABK therapy, the Konseling Madif (MADIF) digital counselling application, and the Care-Dis website for service requests, bullying reports and student data, and it discussed a classroom accommodation of placing wheelchair users in accessible, ground-floor rooms (Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas, 2026b).

UNESA documented strategic planning for its Disability Services Unit (ULD) in August 2025, supporting the development of inclusive education services (Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas, 2025). In August 2026, members of UKM Peduli Disabilitas (UKMPD) and trained volunteers assisted incoming students with disabilities during orientation (PKKMB), supporting mobility, communication, access to information and participation (Pusat Unggulan Iptek Disabilitas, 2026c; Universitas Negeri Surabaya, 2026). This evidence documents orientation-period peer assistance, not an automatic year-round personal-assistant entitlement for every student.