Cooperation with China, India

Cooperation with China, India

Indonesians might recall when this country, during the 1960s
and 1970s, was a place for Malaysians to study particularly in
the field of education. Many Malaysian students were studying in
various universities in Indonesia aside from the many Indonesian
teachers who were sent to Malaysia to teach there.

Even Malaysia's oil and gas company Petroleum Nasional Berhad
or Petronas, was once a "foster child" of Indonesia's oil and gas
company PT Pertamina which, over the past few months, has been
grappling with huge problems of soaring oil prices and coping
with fuel scarcity in the country.

Catching up with Malaysia at the moment is out of the question
as this country is now two or three steps ahead of us. So why not
turn to China and India, the two most populous countries on
earth, but more "developed" than us. There are at least two areas
in which we can cooperate with these countries, notably in
economic development and education.

With China, the new economic powerhouse with a foreign
exchange reserve 20 times that of Indonesia's, President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono has struck a strategic partnership deal in
order to multiply trade activities of up to US$20 billion between
the two countries.

There is, however, still room for Indonesia to set up
cooperation with India in the field of education as the latter is
more "advanced" in human resources development, particularly in
information technology.

In times of need, as in Malaysia's case when it invited
Indonesian teachers decades ago, Indonesia doesn't have to be
reluctant to learn and tap experiences from others deemed more
advanced in particular areas. A lot of exclusive or international
and yet expensive educational institutions have been mushrooming
here lately, but they cater only for the "haves" and
intellectually superior students. But how about the average level
students and students of poor families?

Therefore, it is the government's task, in particular the
Ministry of National Education and its educational institutions
-- secondary or tertiary educations-- to pioneer the setting up
of cooperation with the Indian ministry of education in all
aspects including curricula and utilization of textbooks. This
way, there would be no reason for Indonesian "rich" youngsters to
pursue education overseas, as has been the case over the years,
and this will help secure foreign exchange.

M. RUSDI, Jakarta