Indonesian students in cash bind Down Under

By Monika Winarto

JAKARTA (JP): The Australian Education Center in Kuningan, South Jakarta, is busier than usual these days.

But the up to 30 people dropping in to see counselors are not just prospective students weighing choices.

Many are Indonesian students already enrolled in Australian schools, now justifiably worried by the plummeting value of the rupiah -- and the attendant skyrocketing in expenses.

Students studying in the United States are also among the visitors; they want to know whether transferring to Australian institutions would be comparatively cheaper.

Most inquiries, said counselor Dian Sukmadewi, were from students concerned whether they would have to halt their studies.

"Compared to last July when the rupiah was Rp 1,900 (to the Australian dollar), now it's Rp 5,000 ... new students would have to add another Rp 20 million to the Rp 30 million for tuition and living costs per semester," Dian said.

Yearly university tuition fees average approximately A$10,000, while living expenses are about $700 per month.

The 16,654 Indonesians are second only to South Koreans in the rank of foreign students by country in Australia.

Ani, back in Jakarta from Canberra on summer vacation, felt her heart in her throat when she heard the rate had reached Rp 10,000 to the U.S. dollar on Jan. 8.

"Rp 10,000?! How can I afford to go back to Australia to continue my studies and finish my degree?"

She has two years left before finishing her communications major, and had hoped to return to a promising job here.

Her father, a management executive, had pledged to try his best to keep paying the A$5,000 tuition fee per semester.

"I want to keep you in school, but only if the rate is about Rp 4,000 (to the Australian dollar)," Ani said her father had told her.

With the rate around Rp 5,000 to the Australian dollar earlier this month, her father said he would have to shell out at least Rp 28 million more in tuition and living costs per semester.

Ani said that many of her friends were returning to Indonesia for the holidays, but a sizable number might not return to school.

The burden to come up with the extra cash is on parents. Yunita, whose daughter is studying at the University of Canberra, said: "We will just have to work much harder to support her."

Work

Her daughter had also worked part-time as a shop assistant for A$7.50 an hour. Australian student visas permit 20 hours of work a week.

"The work permit should help relieve some financial burden of the family," said Narell Dodd, second secretary of the immigration department of the Australian Embassy here.

But not everybody can balance work with a heavy study load.

Reina is frustrated. She has one more year to go to complete her accounting degree at the Canberra Institute of Technology.

"I'm stuck, I can't get a job now without my diploma and I can't continue my education to get the diploma," she sighs.

It's the ultimate Catch-22: no education means no diploma, and no job in the waiting.

She did consider getting a part-time job as a waitress or shop assistant in Canberra, but was put off by the long hours and physical toll.

At the local office of the International Development Program (IDP), an agency to assist Indonesian students studying in Australia, manager Paul Kasenda said hard-up students might be entitled to a tuition deferment scheme.

"It depends on the institution or university's decision and policy. Also, each student's case and record."

The Queensland University of Technology agreed last month that newly enrolled Indonesian students would not have to pay the full amount, and could just make down payments.

Miresa, an 11th-grader at a Canberra college, a high school equivalent institution, can count herself among the more fortunate.

Her parents decided that she should miss the first three months of the new semester beginning February, in the hope the rupiah might strengthen in that period.

But as her family is arranging permanent residence in Australia, Miresa will be free of compulsory tuition fees when the status is approved.

In university, she would qualify for Australia's Higher Education Contribution scheme, under which participants do not have to pay tuition until they earn A$20,700 after graduating.

Although costs may be much higher compared to home, Miresa is among many who believe the advantages in lifestyle and educational quality are worth the price.

"Besides studying in a system that does not force me to study subjects like science, and being able to expand my skills in languages like French, Japanese and Korean, the standard of living is higher there.

Record

Australia had seemed destined for a bumper year in Indonesian student enrollment before the crisis hit.

Assistant to the head of the education department at the Australian embassy, Shirley Hadidinata, said there had been a record-breaking increase of 37 percent in student visa applications last July, when the rupiah was beginning its fall.

Isla Winarto, the director of the IDP, said her agency had noted an increase of more than 50 percent in student enrollment in December last year compared to December 1996.

She said only a few students had deferred enrollment.

"Most parents who postpone plans have more than one child already studying abroad."

The Australian embassy said it had not heard of any students requesting visa cancellations or extensions in recent weeks.

"It's too early to say, universities starts at the beginning of May," Dodd explained.

And some families are willing to shoulder financial burdens for the promise of a superior education.

Siti (a pseudonym) studied at an Australian high school, but will go to the U.S. for her university degree.

Why not continue in Australia, usually the less expensive choice?

"For her chosen career (finance), employers here would look more favorably on an American graduate," said her mother, who remained convinced the crisis was temporary.

"We have had a hard life, and we want our daughter to have a better one."