Old educational problems never die

Old educational problems never die

JAKARTA (JP): While Indonesia badly needs skilled workers to
enter the competitive global market, the country's education
system is still grappling with basic old problems, a well-placed
official conceded yesterday.

Few truly qualified teachers and a lack of relevance between
classroom theories and the real world of work remain a major
problem, said Rahardi Ramelan, deputy chairperson of the National
Development Planning Board.

There is no way universities can produce qualified graduates
unless the basic problems are solved, Rahardi said when
addressing a seminar on education.

Unfortunately, he said, the problem is aggravated by the lack
of facilities necessary to improve the learning-teaching process.

"The effort to improve the quality of university lecturers
should become the highest priority," Rahardi told education
experts participating in the two-day seminar titled The
Management of Higher Education: Anticipation of the Year 2020.

Quoting 1995 statistics, Rahardi said that of the 46,735 full-
time lecturers at state universities, only 13,826, or 29.6
percent, of them have doctorates.

"Most lecturers, or 70.4 percent of them, only graduated from
undergraduate programs," Rahardi said in the seminar co-organized
by Trisakti University, Indiana University and Malay University.

Rahardi said Indonesia is facing a serious problem resulting
from the oversupply of university graduates because the higher
education system does not produce enough graduates with skills
demanded by the business sector.

Statistics released in 1994 revealed there were 309,150
unemployed university graduates, while in 1980 the number stood
at 7,540.

"The unemployment rate among university graduates is high,"
Rahardi said.

Furthermore, he said, universities, especially state ones,
need to raise funds to finance operations without ignoring their
social functions.

"Universities should not financially burden students to
overcome their financial problems," Rahardi said. He suggested
universities establish partnerships with private businesses to
solve their financial problems.

"Unfortunately, the tradition to establish partnerships
between universities and the private sector is not yet common
here," Rahardi said.

In addition to education, universities should conduct
research, both for scientific purposes and as a link to
industrial sector, he added. (ste)