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.