National accreditation system to be launched
National accreditation system to be launched
JAKARTA (JP): The much-awaited accreditation system, set up by the National Accreditation Board to regulate universities and to bring them up to certain standards, will come into effect this July.
Chairman of the board Sukadji Ranuwihardjo told a hearing with the House of Representatives yesterday that 1,408 universities with more than 5,000 study programs will undergo the accreditation process in the first semester of the 1996/97 school year.
Under the plan, the universities will be graded according to the quality, efficiency and relevance of their study programs. The accreditation system was tested at 10 state-owned universities and five private ones last year.
In the future, all study programs will be labeled as either accredited or non-accredited, Sukadji told members of the House Commission X for educational affairs.
In the past, study programs in private universities were either labeled as "equivalent" to similar programs at state universities, "recognized" or merely "registered" by the Ministry of Education and Culture. This system was often criticized and thought to be open to manipulation.
"The accreditation is meant to improve our graduates' quality," said Sukadji, who was accompanied by Director General for Higher Education Bambang Soehendro.
"Universities which fail to meet the standard will be labeled non-accredited," Sukadji said. "Those which are accredited will be given an A for the highest level of compliance with the accreditation system, B for the average level and C for the lowest level."
Of the universities to be subjected to the scheme, 76 are state-owned, 104 are specialized training academies, and 1,228 private universities.
Accredited private universities will be able to conduct their own examinations rather than apply the ones prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Sukadji said the new system will help increase the public's trust in the quality of local universities.
Sukadji said universities which fail to meet the standard in a given year's evaluation will have a certain period of time to improve their performance before the next evaluation.
The first stage of the accreditation process will be conducted by the individual university's senate of professors, using guidelines established by the accreditation board, Sukadji said.
A team from the accreditation board will then analyze the results.
The board, which now has 20 people, is expected to have an additional 16 to 18 members for the 1996/1997 term.
"With 36 members, we can set up 12 panel groups to evaluate the universities," Sukadji said. "Every panel will have to evaluate about 50 to 60 study programs starting in July."
He said that the Ministry of Finance has agreed to provide Rp 3.5 billion (US$1.5 million) for the board for this year's program, adding that it actually needs more. (31)