Liberalization in education: A threat or a necessity

Liberalization in education: A threat or a necessity

Rudijanto, Contributor, Jakarta

Domestic universities and other tertiary education
institutions may feel threatened by the liberalization of
education as proposed by the World Trade Organization in the
framework of the General Agreement on Trade Services (GATS),
which will allow for the operation of foreign universities in
Indonesia, but the demand for quality education continues to
grow.

Last December, in a meeting with the House of Representatives,
the Indonesian Dean's Forum (FRI) appealed to the legislature to
prevent the planned liberalization of the education sector,
particularly because the agreement on trade services did not
involve officials from the education department or any education
institution.

Representing state-run and private universities and other
tertiary education institutions in Indonesia, the FRI has
repeatedly voiced concerns over the inclusion of education in
GATS. The deans strongly rejected the classification of education
as a national commodity to be included in GATS.

Some countries, including the U.S. and Australia, are
insisting that higher education should be included in the WTO
under the framework of GATS. This framework constitutes a
multilateral agreement that includes trade in services, covering
services in education.

Far from being a tradable commodity, the FRI considers
education as having a noble value in maintaining and developing
the nation's civilization and culture. Having this noble
character, the deans believe that education is every nation's
respective responsibility and has to be taken care of by an
authority appointed by the respective countries.

However, the demand for quality education is growing in
Indonesia. That is why the deans grouped in FRI also realized
that they could not reject the advent of international education
without sacrificing the quality of the country's education.

The quality of the country's university and academy level
education has been a concern. Of over 1,700 domestic universities
and other tertiary education institutions, only a few are good
quality, particularly those operating in big cities, such as
Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Semarang and Surabaya.

Other universities and tertiary education institutions,
particularly private ones in towns and regencies, allegedly offer
below-standard education. For instance, there are around 384
privately run universities, institutes and academies in West Java
and Banten, but some of them do not have lecturers who hold
master's degrees.

Only 60 percent of the lecturers in bigger universities,
institutes and academies have master's degrees while the number
of lecturers with master's degrees reaches only 40 percent in
some other universities. For tertiary education institutes, the
absence of lecturers with master's degrees or doctorates is
simply a disaster for the nation's education sector.

One wonders about the implications of "protecting" the country
from the education offered by high-quality foreign education
institutions, just in order to protect domestic universities of
doubtful quality.

Principal of Gandhi Institute of Business & Technology (GIBT)
Michael J Goodwin said that there are far too few international
schools to threaten the existence of national schools.

"The GBIT is an international college that offers an
alternative for those who can afford to attend and who recognize
the benefits and advantages that an internationally recognized
qualification will give in this increasingly global world," says
Goodwin.

The same opinion is expressed by the marketing manager of
Gandhi Institute of Business & Technology (GIBT), Tirza, who said
that, instead of feeling threatened by the operation of foreign
universities, local universities could learn something positive
from foreign curricula.

"Foreign curricula is normally designed in a very practical
way and takes into account the needs of employers. Thus, it is
easier for our graduates to get jobs," said Tirza.

Swiss German University and the GIBT are two examples of
institutes of higher learning that are applying foreign-based
curricula. GIBT started its S1-level education two years ago,
offering Australian degrees from New South Wales' Charles Sturt
University in business studies, IT and marketing and
communications.

Later this year, the GIBT will offer degree courses in plant
biotechnology and in food science. Like the GIBT, the SGU's
curriculum tends to be very practical with internships in
Indonesian companies available for third-semester students and in
Germany for sixth-semester students.

Some established national universities have actually started
their own double degree programs in partnership with foreign
universities. For instance, Jakarta-based Trisakti University
runs an international-class program in cooperation with the
faculty of business at Edith Cowan University (ECU), Perth,
Western Australia.

The program is recognized by ECU and is equivalent to ECU's
BBA full-time program in Australia. Students who graduate from
this program can continue their studies in ECU's Master of
Business Administration program conducted in Perth.

Not only private universities but state-owned universities,
such as the University of Indonesia (UI), also offer double
degree programs. In cooperation with the University of Queensland
(UQ) in Brisbane, Australia, UI offers both a BA in psychology
from UQ and the S.Psi degree from UI.

Double degree programs appear to be the answer for some
Indonesians who want to receive an international-standard
education without leaving the country. The double degree programs
are also much cheaper than studying overseas.

It is not only foreign universities and other third level
institutes that are interested in coming to Indonesia. Many
foreign elementary and high schools are also interested in
setting up shop here. One of these is the Singapore-based PSB
School, which is planning to start classes in 2006 in Jakarta's
Kelapa Gading area.

However, PSB School will start enrolling students in the
middle of this year. The founder of Singapore PSB, Osman Aman,
said that the school has strategic alliances with renowned
tertiary institutions in Australia, the US and the UK.

"Students graduating from our school are eligible for
admission to various international tertiary institutions,
including the University of Western Australia, the US-based San
Diego University, and the UK-based University of Cambridge," says
Aman.

Some Indonesians may be concerned about the liberalization of
the education sector under the WTO. However, the interest of
local students in enrolling in local schools and universities
that apply foreign curricula or a joint curriculum with an
overseas institution sends a strong signal that there is
something seriously wrong with the curricula being applied in
Indonesia.

The fact that none of the country's universities were included
in the list of the 20 best universities in Asia drawn up by
Asiaweek magazine should send a clear message to the education
sector.

Local students would have no reason to enroll in programs
offering foreign curricula if Indonesian universities were
capable of providing an education of an equal standard.