{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1713152,
        "msgid": "safeguarding-the-nations-educational-compass-1777647116",
        "date": "2026-05-01 20:56:23",
        "title": "Safeguarding the Nation's Educational Compass",
        "author": "",
        "source": "ANTARA_ID",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Social Policy",
        "summary": "The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, is pushing universities to close programmes in humanities and foundational sciences like philosophy, physics, education, and history to better align with industrial needs and address graduate surpluses. However, this policy risks eroding the nation's ideological resilience against global hegemonies and traps education in a Red Queen scenario, where rapid technological changes outpace curriculum updates, rendering graduates obsolete and mere cogs in the industrial machine. Maintaining a balanced educational compass is essential to foster critical thinkers who drive meaningful change rather than disposable labour.",
        "content": "<p>Jakarta (ANTARA) - Although the government has good intentions to\nalign the pulse of higher education (PT) with the pragmatic mechanics of\nthe global job market by closing various study programmes (prodi) that\nteach the \u201ceternity of values\u201d, such as philosophy, physics, education,\nand history, there is an existential risk that may arise from this\npolicy. This synchronisation effort will erode this nation\u2019s\n\u201cideological immunity\u201d in the face of asymmetric hegemony waves in\ncontemporary global conflict dynamics. It is in this context that we\nneed to safeguard the Indonesian nation\u2019s educational compass. The\nMinistry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology\n(Kemendiktisaintek) recently conveyed the urgency for PT to conduct\nstrict curation, up to the closure of prodi deemed not aligned with\nindustry needs. This narrative emerged in relation to concerns over\n\u201csurplus graduates\u201d, particularly in education and social-humanities\n(soshum) fields, which are considered to exceed market capacity. The\nhelm of education must be steered massively to supply the technical\nneeds of the industrial world; in mining, medicine, or technology\nsectors. For the government, Indonesia is like a large ship charging\nquickly to catch up with its lag in the ocean of global progress.\nIndonesia must be directed to become a precise part in that global\nindustrial ecosystem, by urging authorities to accelerate the spin of\nthe education turbine, through transforming classrooms into production\nlaboratories for ready-to-use labour. Red Queen Anomaly Currently, our\neducation world is trapped in what is known in evolutionary biology as\nthe Red Queen Hypothesis. A condition that forces its\nexponents\u2014teachers, students, and regulations\u2014to run as fast as possible\njust to stay in the same place. Therefore, the linear obsession of\nKemendiktisaintek in chasing industry seems absurd when applied to\ndomestic PT, especially when synchronising curriculum cycles and\nindustrial innovation cycles. If that obsession is implemented, then in\nthe curriculum cycle and undergraduate study period at Indonesian PT, a\nrelatively long cumulative time is required; starting from creating a\nnew curriculum (1-2 years), plus the graduation period of 4-5 years.\nMeanwhile, \u201cMoore\u2019s Law\u201d\u2014unlimited cheap device advancements\u2014and the\nrevolution of imitative intelligence (Generative AI) change the face of\ntechnology every six to twelve months, potentially faster in the future.\nThis reality stimulates the moment when a prospective graduate enters a\ntrending \u201cTechnology X\u201d prodi, but when he graduates from PT, that\nrising technology may already have been replaced by the latest \u201cY\u201d\ntechnology. Thus, when technology \u201cX\u201d is disrupted and replaced by new\ninnovations, the graduates educated with this narrow curriculum\ninstantly lose their relevance to the industrial world for which they\nwere prepared. They might become \u201cindustrial waste\u201d. Even more so when\nat the same time, they lack a foundation of reasoning that transcends\ntechnical procedures. So it\u2019s no wonder if our graduates end up as\nnothing more than screws in a large machine that wear out easily and are\nreplaced. They ultimately lose their dignity as subjects driving change\nin this country.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/safeguarding-the-nations-educational-compass-1777647116",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}