Britain joins battle to draw RI students

Britain joins battle to draw RI students

JAKARTA (JP): Representatives of British colleges and
universities are currently in town and competing to attract
prospective Indonesian students, whose number has continued to
grow over the last few years.

"It is quite difficult to interest Indonesians in British
education, mainly because there is no 'traditional' relationship
such as in the case of Malaysia and Singapore, for example,"
Stephen Baines, the manager of the British Council's Education
Projects, said during the 1995 British Education Exhibition on
Saturday.

Nonetheless, the number of Indonesians studying there has
steadily increased despite competition, especially from
Australia, which is geographically closer, and the United States,
which entered the Indonesian market earlier and is, therefore, to
a certain extent, more popular.

Baines estimated the number of Indonesians presently studying
in Britain at about 1,500.

The exhibition, which was held earlier in Surabaya and
Bandung, was participated in by 60 British colleges and
universities.

According to Baines, exhibitions are considered by the
universities as an effective way of introducing British schools
to Indonesians.

"The fact that university representatives come and continue to
come every year can be an indicator that exhibiting in Indonesian
is worthwhile," Baines said.

However, he acknowledged that the success of an exhibition at
gaining students cannot be assessed immediately. "It is a long-
term objective ... and getting three percent of the visitors here
to become students is already quite significant," he said.

Peggy Slamet, an education counselor at the British Council's
Education Counseling Service, said the number of Indonesians
studying in Britain increased by some 25 percent in 1994 from the
previous year and in 1993 the figure rose by about 30 percent
from 1992. Unlike master's programs in other countries, which
take up to two years to complete, in Britain they can be
completed in only one year," Peggy said.

Tuition fees for graduate studies, according to the British
Education handbook, is around 5,720 pound sterling (Rp 20
million) for social studies, 7,580 pound sterling for natural and
exact science and 13,960 pound sterling for medical science.

Living expenses for 12 months range between 5,500 and 7,000
pounds, thus bringing the total to a range of 11,220
pound sterling (Rp 39 million) to 14,580 pound sterling a year
for non-medical science disciplines and 20,960 pound sterling for
medical school.

In comparison, tuition fees and living expenses in the U.S.
range between US$12,000 (Rp 26 million) and $25,000 per year.

The exhibition this year is the fourth of its kind held by the
British Council. In 1991, a similar event was held by a private
company and in 1992 it became a regular event overseen by the
British Council.

"The United Kingdom has only recently been aware of the
potential market in Indonesia as it had previously focused on the
Singapore and Malaysia market," she added.

Some 65 percent of the Indonesians currently studying in
Britain are taking post-graduate courses. (pwn)