Australian education boom in RI
By Jennie Siat
JAKARTA (JP): Before 1988, international students in Australia were given free tuition fee and Medicare. A year later, the Australian government started marketing its schools in Indonesia. Now international students pay full tuition fees and for their health insurance.
The business of Australian education earns the country A$ 1.5 million (US$ 1.2 million) a year, according to the Kompas daily (May 11, 1996).
Some 18,000 Indonesians study in Australia, which, supposing one Indonesian student spends A$ 20,000 a year to cover all expenses including living expenses, means A$ 360 million is spent in Australia by Indonesian students alone.
Resident students must be provided with housing, food and other daily needs. In short, the downstream businesses that support the resident students help strengthen the Australian economy.
A less expensive way to get an Australian education is to study in Indonesia by correspondence or under the guidance of a tutor. Correspondence studies, although considered more innovative, flexible and less expensive than attending a school in Australia, is not popular among Indonesian students.
Correspondence courses are often considered easier and less prestigious by Indonesians. The Australian universities which offer the courses to international students find Indonesian enrollment low because many Indonesians regard correspondence courses as second rate.
Despite the negative impression distance learning programs have, an impression which keeps Indonesian students from enrolling, the courses challenge the Indonesian education system.
Australia recently found a way to popularize distance learning. It has physically brought the courses, complete with tutors, to Indonesia. The classroom environment stimulates Indonesian students to study.
Two institutions in Jakarta offer Foundation Year Study to Indonesian SMU graduates. Both are supported by well-known Indonesian foundations.
Foundation Year Study programs are cheaper and offer a more flexible timeframe while maintaining the quality of education. They also guarantee an Australian university seat to an Indonesian student who earns a minimum grade.
High school graduates have grabbed the opportunity and enrolled, a fact that poses a challenge to the Indonesian education system. More foreign correspondence course, with or without tutors, are being imported. What impact will it have on education?
Australian education has made an impact on Indonesia. Much money is going down under. The quality and impact of education being offered, both to resident students and correspondence students, must be regarded and weighed against nationalism.
The writer, an observer of social and education problems, is an alumnus of the University of Indonesia.