Educational budget

Educational budget

From Kompas

The performance of applied research institutes in ten major cities remains poor (Kompas, April 16, 2002), except in Bandung. At present, Indonesia is not yet capable of competing with its counterparts in India and China. The expectation that these institutes will supply technology for industries and small and medium-scale businesses is still beyond reality. The same is true of state university research bodies, which are allocated routine project budgets monthly.

It seems that the House of Representatives and government's efforts to raise the education budget by 25 percent will be to no avail and a waste of money unless the increase is supported by adequate human resources and an adequate educational system. Malaysia's industrial and agrobusiness success is based on such strong support.

We should be ashamed of importing rice from Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and India. Aren't we embarrassed about having a good market but allowing the quality and productivity of Juwana milkfish and Probolinggo mangoes to remain low? With the pineapple canning industry in Lampung as our only source of pride, can't we expect to have 30 or even 70 mega agrobusiness manufacturers in the country, known for possessing the world's second richest bio-diversity after Brazil?

D. GUNADI

Semarang