National Accreditation Body should not be resolved: Academics<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Academics urged the government on Monday to reform the National
\nAccreditation Body (BAN) in a bid to maintain the quality of
\nuniversity graduates and to prevent the rampant practice of
\nselling fake diplomas.<\/p>\n
Adil Basuki Ahza, chairman of the Preparatory Committee of
\nAutonomy Implementation in the Bogor Institute of Agriculture
\n(IPB), told The Jakarta Post that BAN was needed to control the
\nquality of universities and to clamp down on the selling of
\ndiplomas.<\/p>\n
\"We still need BAN because it is an evaluation system that
\nguarantees the continuous improvement of universities' quality
\nand by so doing there will not be universities selling degrees,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Adil was speaking on the sidelines of a hearing between senior
\nofficials of public and private universities and the House of
\nRepresentatives Commission VI for human resources and religious
\naffairs.<\/p>\n
Adil said that BAN should be a single accountable unit like
\nthe International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that has
\nan international standard of guidelines and fixed rules in making
\nevaluations.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes the government elects a person to be a BAN member
\njust because he holds a professorship. But then it turns out that
\nthe professor fails to do his job because of a lack of
\ncapability,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Adil said that the government must select an auditor based on
\nhis or her educational background, professionalism and capability
\nto make an objective analysis.<\/p>\n
The government allowed private universities last year to
\nmanage their own final examinations and issue their own degrees.
\nPreviously they were to report to the Coordinating Body for
\nPrivate Colleges (Kopertis) to join the national examination or
\nlegalize the degree.<\/p>\n
R. Djoko Soemadijo, the chairman of the Indonesian Private
\nUniversities Association, told The Post that the policy would
\nhave a double impact.<\/p>\n
Private universities wishing to maintain their good reputation
\nwould exercise prudence in creating their own exams and issuing
\ndiplomas, he said.<\/p>\n
\"They try to raise its quality because they believe if their
\ngraduates are of a low quality, the public will not trust them
\nanymore,\" said Djoko, who is also the rector of Narotama
\nUniversity in Surabaya, East Java.<\/p>\n
However, he said that some private universities would benefit
\nfrom the new liberty by shortening school terms or lowering
\nschool fees to entice the public into getting a diploma more
\neasily.<\/p>\n
\"There is a college whose monthly fee is only Rp 100,000 and
\nthe students get a diploma faster than going the usual route. But
\nI bet it will soon go bankrupt,\" Djoko said.<\/p>\n
He said that BAN could control cheating through rulings that
\nrequire universities to report their graduates, including their
\nfirst enrollment in every semester.<\/p>\n
Djoko, however, voiced private universities' concern over the
\nindependence of BAN by saying that the accreditation body should
\nbe free of collusive practices.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot do anything if BAN members are still civil servants
\n(under the Ministry of Education) because they wield power that
\nis impossible to subdue. What is happening now in the 'market'
\nare 'crimes without victims', because both parties profit,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Djoko said that private universities sometimes have to bargain
\nfor a \"price\" of accreditation with errant officials from the
\naccreditation body if they wished to get good credit for their
\nuniversity.<\/p>\n
\"I urge the government then to make a \"fixed\" price for the
\ncredit if it is the only way to get accreditation so we will all
\nbe treated the same,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Djoko added that the government must certify that the auditor
\nhas credible credentials since his association's members
\nsometimes had difficulty with them.<\/p>\n
\"Our friends from East Java also reported that their auditors
\nsometimes asked to stay in star-rated hotels if the private
\nuniversities wanted accreditation,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/national-accreditation-body-should-not-be-resolved-academics-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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