House to Summon Higher Education Ministry Over URI Establishment
Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) will summon the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek) to seek an explanation regarding the establishment of Universitas Republik Indonesia (URI), which the government recently announced through the inauguration of its governor and deputy governor.
However, Commission X Chair Hetifah Sjaifudian said the clarification would take place after the DPR’s recess period ends in mid-August.
According to Hetifah, the government must explain the concept behind URI’s establishment, ranging from its legal basis and governance to its development direction and funding sources.
“We will ask Kemendiktisaintek to provide a comprehensive explanation of the concept, legal basis, governance, funding sources and development direction of URI, including whether it is true that there are plans to establish up to ten Universitas Republik Indonesia,” Hetifah said when contacted on Wednesday (23/7).
To date, Hetifah said her side has not received any notification from the government about URI’s establishment. The public, she said, has the right to know the urgency behind it, especially regarding plans to form ten universities under the scheme.
Commission X in particular cautioned that URI should not duplicate functions, overlap authorities, or create fragmentation in the governance of national higher education, as every new institution should strengthen the existing higher education ecosystem.
Hetifah also said she could not yet confirm whether URI would become a Commission X partner as a government partner in the education sector. That would depend on the design set by the government.
“In principle, Commission X supports every innovation aimed at improving the quality of higher education and human resource development. Of course, such policies must be drawn up transparently, based on national needs, and form part of the grand design of Indonesian education development,” she said.
President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated Donny Ermawan and Yos Sunitoyoso as Governor and Deputy Governor of the new institution named Universitas Republik Indonesia (URI) on Wednesday (22/7).
Donny currently also serves as Deputy Minister of Defence, while Yos is a scientist and academic from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
URI is being prepared as an institution to produce future leaders of government agencies.
Minister of State Secretariat Prasetyo Hadi explained that Universitas Republik Indonesia is an institution designed to cultivate prospective national leaders by adopting the leadership education models implemented in several countries.
According to him, a number of countries have already adopted similar institutions tasked with preparing future leaders to fill strategic positions in government.
“We have been preparing this for a long time. It is just that the timing was not right before. There will be a time for me to explain the details. So, we are learning from several countries that have educational institutions specifically designed to prepare prospective leaders,” Prasetyo said at the Presidential Palace complex.