Deregulation of higher education welcomed

Deregulation of higher education welcomed

JAKARTA (JP): An education observer and a university rector
welcomed yesterday the government's bid to improve the quality of
the country's higher education system by allowing foreign
universities to operate in Indonesia.

The former rector of Muhammadiyah Teachers Training Institute
in Jakarta, Mochtar Buchori, and rector of the Mercu Buana
University here, Suharyadi, agreed the measure would bode well
for the progress of local universities.

"This will give local universities competition, so that they
have a comparison for how a real university should be run,"
Buchori said.

"So I see no problem with the new measure."

The two observers were contacted separately to comment on the
government's latest deregulation of the education sector which,
among other things, will allow foreign universities to set up
colleges under join ventures with Indonesian parties.

Minister of Education Wardiman Djojonegoro announced the new
measure last Friday, saying it would strengthen the
competitiveness of Indonesia's human resources.

Suharyadi said the new measure was inevitable in the face of
globalization which has influenced the country over the years.

But he was not too optimistic that the presence of foreign
universities would help the country upgrade its human resources
development as promptly as the government may hope.

"For me, it's just nonsense that foreigners will genuinely
want to help us educate our people. Their presence here will
surely have an economic motive, instead of a social motive which
is what education is all about."

Therefore, the government has to provide enough protection for
the country's existing universities, especially its private ones
which have been "in dire straits" all along, he said.

Buchori, however, argued that local universities which have
been struggling would succumb, whether "willing or not", with the
presence of better managed foreign universities.

Buchori and Suharyadi both agreed that the government must be
"strictly selective" about allowing foreign universities to
operate in the country.

Buchori said the presence of qualified foreign universities in
Indonesia would bode well for institution building at local
universities.

He pointed to, for instance, the excellence of a language
laboratory -- which is usually attached to a university abroad --
and its dynamics in developing university courses, which local
universities should also be open to.

Suharyadi agreed but warned against making the same mistake as
in the 1970s when the country opened itself up to foreign
companies.

"We let them in the hope they could help us develop our
economy while at the same time develop the country's human
resources, but it didn't deliver, did it?"

Suharyadi said the government must not be "too loose or give
too many opportunities" to foreign universities which operate in
the country.

"We just have to realize that the country's human resources
are not strong enough for free competition, but if local
universities are properly protected, then why not?" (aan)