Public encouraged to report bogus universities
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)