'A degree is not everything'
'A degree is not everything'
The government has woken up to the issue of bogus universities
that have provided, according to a report, unlicensed degrees to
many of its officials, including former vice president Hamzah
Haz. The Jakarta Post asked residents for their reactions to the
issue.
Ali, 30, works at a publishing company. He lives in South
Jakarta:
Obtaining certificates from bogus universities is an insult to
the intelligence because people are buying university degrees,
while others have to study hard to get scholarships and do their
research and pass their examinations.
In Indonesia, a title is seen as something prestigious, while
the capability of a person should be measured not by how many
academic titles they hold but on their competency and
professionalism.
I think, from the beginning, the Ministry of National
Education and police should stop and arrest people who are
involved in this practice. People only started talking (about the
practice) after one incident was reported recently. Why didn't
the authorities do anything before?
I think people should understand that academic titles are not
the top achievements in life, there are greater things to strive
for like competency and professionalism.
Prodita Kusuma Sabarini, 23, is a non-governmental
organization activist who lives in Bogor:
As far as I'm concerned the institution that issued unlicensed
degrees is not a new education institution.
Many government officials graduated from that institution, if
I'm not mistaken. So why has the government revealed the practice
now? It doesn't make any sense.
Maybe the government just doesn't have an adequate system to
supervise the operation of education institutions, so that this
kind of problem happens over and over again.
I think this problem also compounds the feeling that
Indonesians have that a degree is everything. They think that the
degree will give them status. What's the point of having a degree
if you aren't capable of achieving it yourself.
The government needs to take a good, hard look at the
education system so that this sort of thing won't happen again.
-- The Jakarta Post
The government has woken up to the issue of bogus universities
that have provided, according to a report, unlicensed degrees to
many of its officials, including former vice president Hamzah
Haz. The Jakarta Post asked residents for their reactions to the
issue.
Ali, 30, works at a publishing company. He lives in South
Jakarta:
Obtaining certificates from bogus universities is an insult to
the intelligence because people are buying university degrees,
while others have to study hard to get scholarships and do their
research and pass their examinations.
In Indonesia, a title is seen as something prestigious, while
the capability of a person should be measured not by how many
academic titles they hold but on their competency and
professionalism.
I think, from the beginning, the Ministry of National
Education and police should stop and arrest people who are
involved in this practice. People only started talking (about the
practice) after one incident was reported recently. Why didn't
the authorities do anything before?
I think people should understand that academic titles are not
the top achievements in life, there are greater things to strive
for like competency and professionalism.
Prodita Kusuma Sabarini, 23, is a non-governmental
organization activist who lives in Bogor:
As far as I'm concerned the institution that issued unlicensed
degrees is not a new education institution.
Many government officials graduated from that institution, if
I'm not mistaken. So why has the government revealed the practice
now? It doesn't make any sense.
Maybe the government just doesn't have an adequate system to
supervise the operation of education institutions, so that this
kind of problem happens over and over again.
I think this problem also compounds the feeling that
Indonesians have that a degree is everything. They think that the
degree will give them status. What's the point of having a degree
if you aren't capable of achieving it yourself.
The government needs to take a good, hard look at the
education system so that this sort of thing won't happen again.
-- The Jakarta Post