Foreign and domestic graduates

I am writing in reference to the letter from Olivia Lestari Indra Why overseas graduates ? (Jan. 15, 1997).

I believe Olivia is a victim of incomplete, hazy information concerning the state of our national education system, including public and private universities.

The media has rarely given a comprehensive overview of the system during the past two five-year development programs. Students are below standard if compared with Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Bangkok. So our academicians are in fact near the d-3 (diploma) or d-4 level.

Unfortunately, we are already in a disastrous state. We already have more than 50,000 (officially registered) expatriates (Filipinos, Indians, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Japanese and Caucasians) in Indonesia which cost the country some US$2.4 billion per annum. Then add 50 percent to the 50,000 people to account for those working without an official permit.

You can understand this if you look at the annual state budget expenditure for education, and if you know that a lecturer earns about Rp 200,000 per month, a professor about Rp 450,000 (private universities pay about three times that much). All are forced to go "moonlighting" or have a second job in order to survive.

At the Bandung Institute of Technology the average graduate spends six years at university, for a curriculum designed for four years (bachelor S-1). This is not because the students lack intelligence, but because only the cream who pass the final exam of senior high school are accepted. This also reflects the culture of ngobyek (moonlighting) for the sake of survival.

Libraries and laboratories here are short of resources, especially compared with our neighboring ASEAN countries. And please don't talk about Australia, Hong Kong, USA, or Europe where standards are very high.

So there is a distinct difference between those graduating from abroad and domestic graduates because of the facilities.

Foreign graduates are also encouraged to be disciplined, competitive, analytical, communicative and creative. This makes them "different", more mature and independent, alert and dynamic. And of course domestic graduates have such a low grasp of English that they generally have trouble reading manuals and speaking English, which today is a must.

I hope that Olivia can understand why business and industry differentiates between the two graduates. We consider foreign graduates are more ready for the workforce than their domestic colleagues, which is only the result of circumstances.

Y. SANTO

Jakarta