Malaysia education institutes lures Indonesian students

Malaysia education institutes lures Indonesian students

By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo

JAKARTA (JP): "Go and study as far as China," said Mohammad
the prophet. In the past few years, however, Indonesians have
gone further than China: the United States, Europe, Japan and
Australia have been the preferred destinations to study abroad.

The monetary crisis has made many Indonesian students planning
to go abroad reconsider their plan due to the steep exchange rate
of the rupiah to the U.S. dollar.

Malaysia could be seen as an appealing alternative. Its
education system might be attractive in many ways to Indonesians.
In terms of quality, "Malaysia has some educational institutions
comparable to the best in the West," boasted Datu' Sri Mohd.
Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia's minister of education at
the opening address of The Malaysian Education Exhibition 1998.
The exhibition was held recently in Jakarta and Bandung to
introduce Malaysia's tertiary education to Indonesians.

Malaysia has also sent many of its students abroad. Last year
alone, their 50,000 students studying in America eclipsed
Indonesia's 12,000.

Realizing that such a scheme is expensive in the long term,
the Malaysian government has run an educational reform program.
Now, Malaysia is ready to sell its educational system to
neighboring countries as a commodity.

Malaysia's education reform process started a few years ago
when Malaysian universities introduced a twinning program for its
students. In Malaysia, only state universities could issue
academic degrees. To fulfill the increasing needs of a skilled
manpower, the Malaysian government now encourages private
institutions to create partnerships with overseas universities.

By cooperating with overseas educational institutions,
undergraduate students from Malaysia's private universities may
study for two years in Malaysia and later continue their studies
abroad. It is also expected that under such a cooperation, the
quality of Malaysian education will not only increase but also
save the foreign exchange.

One example of this program is the International Medical
College. The college currently has 20 Partner Medical Schools
(PMS). The program promises that professors from the PMS will
visit frequently and give lectures. After two-and-a-half years of
study, students from the college will be awarded with an advance
diploma in medical science and have the chance to continue
studying abroad at a PMS. McGill University, Canada, and
University of Melbourne, Australia, are among the universities
that participate as PMS in the program.

According to Abubakar, from Malaysia's Ministry of Education,
the twinning program is highly successful. Abubakar is the
director of registration and quality assurance in the ministry's
department of private education.

"Since it started, some Malaysian institutions have even
created a three-plus-zero program. Under that program, an
overseas institution fully trusts a Malaysian institution for the
whole education process," said Abubakar. He added that upon
graduation, the students would receive certificates from the
overseas institution.

In August 1995, Malaysia's prime minister, Datu' Seri Dr.
Mahatir Bin Mohammad, declared his ambition to make Malaysia a
Multimedia Super Corridor, turning Malaysia into the Silicon
Valley of Asia.

To support such an ambitious project, the Malaysian government
must support tertiary institutions that concentrate on
Information Technology (IT) and computer technology.

"If you want to study IT, Malaysia will be the place since the
government fully supports and prioritizes this area of
concentration," Abubakar said.

One of the universities to seize this opportunity is the Asia
Pacific Institute of Information Technology, which was formed to
address the dire need of IT specialists in the region.

"We try to provide IT professionals with specific skills in
their field," said Vijay Reddy, the college representative. He
claimed that average job offers for graduates of his college was
3.5 jobs per graduate. The most popular job offer is as a
computer programmer, with a network analyst coming in second.

The college also offers a twining degree program with Monash
University.

The cost of education in Malaysia is actually not cheaper than
the cost here. On average, a university charges 5,000 ringgit
(US$1,315) to 10,000 ringgit a year. On top of that, yearly
living expenses in Malaysia are about 7,000 ringgit. Yet, the
exhibition held at the Sahid Hotel, Central Jakarta, drew an
overwhelming crowd.

Visitors to the exhibition were mainly Chinese-Indonesian
families. They came with a clear purpose, to look for a better
education for their children. Some grumbled that a supposed quota
for Chinese-Indonesian children to enroll at local state
universities forced them to send their children abroad.

The combination of he monetary crisis and the May riots is
what made John visit the exhibition. "It is more secure for me to
be there, Malaysia is cheaper than Australia," said John, who
studied hotel management at the Blue Mountains College, New South
Wales, before the monetary crisis.

Attending the exhibition with his two children, Abraham
Poniman had a different reason. "Malaysia is closer than any
other country. It would be easier for my wife and me to visit the
children at any time," he said.

Is Malaysia using the monetary crisis to attract students from
Indonesia?

It seems that Malaysia has a longer reaching plan. In his
opening speech, Datu Najib said the exchange of students would
eventually lead to a more intense relationship in the future.

Abubakar said, "We (Malaysia) would like to help our close
friend."

Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono gave his
support to Indonesian students who want to study overseas. "By
studying abroad, Indonesia's young generation will be able to
catch up in the modernization process."

Meanwhile, the government here is trying to improve the
accreditation system of local tertiary education institutes in an
effort to obtain better quality among them.