Britain tries to attract more Indonesian students
Britain tries to attract more Indonesian students
JAKARTA (JP): Representatives from British universities and colleges were in Jakarta over the weekend in the hope of attracting more Indonesians to study in Britain.
Because of a lack of information on British colleges and universities, only 2,000 Indonesians are currently studying in Britain, said Peggy Slamet of the British Council's education counseling service.
The United States, however, claims to have nearly 12,000 Indonesians studying there while Australia is host to 6,000 or more, Peggy said during the 1996 British Education Exhibition last Saturday.
Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia are other popular destinations for Indonesian students.
"Britain has to compete with Australia, which is geographically closer, and the United States, which entered the Indonesian market earlier and is therefore, to a certain extent, more popular," Peggy said.
About 52 representatives from British colleges and universities are in town to attract prospective Indonesian students, whose numbers continue to grow.
After Jakarta, the same exhibition will be held in Bandung and Surabaya. Earlier in Medan, North Sumatra, the exhibition attracted more than 600 prospective students.
"The fact that university representatives come and continue to come every year indicates that exhibiting in Indonesia is worthwhile," Peggy said.
However, the number of participants at the exhibitions in Indonesia was lower than those universities that visited earlier exhibitions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore.
"The participants say the exhibition expenses in Indonesia, especially Jakarta, are higher. They also are not familiar with the market here," Peggy said.
She said, however, that she is convinced more foreign universities and colleges will come and hold exhibitions here once they are aware that more than 25,000 Indonesians are studying abroad.
Annual tuition fees and living expenses in Britain, according to the British Education handbook, are between 10,000 poundsterling (US$15,190) and 12,000 pounds for undergraduate studies and between 13,000 pounds and 15,000 pounds for post- graduate studies.
In the U.S., annual tuition fees and living expenses range between US$8,000 to $14,000 for undergraduate studies at public universities, and between $10,000 and $17,000 for postgraduate studies.
"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.
She said that most Indonesians studying in Britain are getting postgraduate degrees. "In 1995, from the 1,300 Indonesians who went to study in Britain, more than 700 took postgraduate studies," she said. (31)