'Productivity level low at private universities'
'Productivity level low at private universities'
JAKARTA (JP): The productivity level at Indonesia's private
universities is only half that of the state universities,
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said
Saturday.
The productivity level is measured in terms of the proficiency
of students, the teacher-student ratio and the number of students
that graduate every year.
"It is high time private universities systematically improve
their quality," he said during a speech at the Muhammadiyah
Teachers Training and Education Institute.
Wardiman suggested that private universities improve the
quality of their lecturers and the teacher-student ratio in order
to improve productivity.
In private universities, each lecturer teaches 40 students,
while in state universities, a lecturer teaches only 12 students,
he said.
He said students in private universities take longer to finish
their studies than students do at state universities. This, he
said contributes to the low productivity performance.
"At private universities, the students finish their studies in
five years and six months for the undergraduate program and four
years and two months for the non-degree diploma program,"
Wardiman said.
At state universities students can finish their education
sooner; five years and two months for the undergraduate program
and three years and a month for the diploma program.
According to Ministry of Education and Culture data, the
number of private universities has increased from 1,076 in 1993
to 1,228 this year.
The private universities have about 1.3 million seats, twice
as many as state universities.
However, most private universities, which have an average of
1,200 students each, keep enrolling students to maintain as high
an income as possible.
"Private universities should cooperate. Some should even
consider merging to maximize their resources," Wardiman said.
He stressed that private universities should not disregard the
aspect of quality in improving their productivity.
He said he hoped the National Accreditation Board, which the
government established in 1994, will help improve the quality Of
private schools.
The board, now in trial operations, will go into full
operation in the first semester of the 1996/97 school year to
accredit about 1,408 higher education institutions. Of those, 76
are state-owned universities, 104 are specialized training
academies, and 1,228 are private universities.
After the process, all study programs will be categorized as
either accredited or non-accredited on the basis of their
quality, efficiency and the relevance of their study programs.
Accredited private universities will be able to conduct their
own examinations. (31)