Public encouraged to report bogus universities
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Due to recent concerns over bogus universities, the city's secondary and higher education agency is making available to the public information on the accreditation of educational institutions.
Agency official Darsana Setiawan said on Wednesday that the agency had opened up two hot lines -- 527-1425 and 527-1424 -- for Jakarta residents to lodge questions or to file complaints.
The numbers have been used by the agency since 2001 to receive public inquiries on scholarships.
"The public can now report problems or ask questions related to education such as those on scholarships, the accreditation of universities and the legal status of university buildings," he said.
The agency recorded that there were 20 educational institutions across the capital that failed to maintain operational standards.
"Those colleges are institutions that lack students or fail to meet the accepted standards for education services," Darsana explained.
According to Budi Supanji, the head of the board that coordinates private universities in several regions in Java, including Jakarta, accredited universities or colleges should have no problem reporting their teaching methods to the board or producing the permit issued to them by the Directorate General of Higher Education at the Ministry of National Education.
Darsana said that the establishment of educational institutions was regulated, including the size, condition and usage of college buildings.
"There are technical requirements, for example, on the protection of students' health."
According to the law, he said, shop-houses and hotels were not to be used as educational institutions except for on a temporary basis in the absence of a more suitable building.
He said that public participation was needed to improve the quality of education so that it met the standards of the Coordinating Board for Private Colleges, the Coordinating Board for Islamic Private Colleges and the Association of Private Colleges in Indonesia.
"We hope that the public can take part in monitoring educational institutions," he said. (004)