Australian education boom in RI
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.