Study while working? Why not!
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Although his position as the assistant manager for public relations of the Hotel Nikko Jakarta took up almost all his time, Sugeng Purnomo's drive to continue his studies remained strong: He wanted to get a bachelor degree. "Study is important in my life. It could be conducted formally in university or during job training," Sugeng, who graduated from the SMAN 1 state high school in Banyuwangi, East Java, in 1994, told The Jakarta Post recently. The 28-year-old executive admitted that it was his considerable experience in the hotel and tourism industry, rather than a school diploma, that enabled him able to reach his current position in the office. Still, Sugeng, who is now a student in a bachelor degree (S1) program in communication sciences at Satya Negara Indonesia University (USNI) in Jakarta, believes an S1 degree would support him in pursuing his career.
Sugeng, who took an evening classes, plans to move to USNI's Saturday-Sunday Program, due to his limited time from Monday to Friday. Besides USNI, there are dozens of other universities in the country that offer programs where lecture are conducted on Saturday and Sunday. However, students must be careful in selecting their university. The selection should be based on quality, rather than education costs. There are a number of universities that "sell" diplomas for a cheap price. Students may well get a diplomas, but not the most important things: knowledge and skills. Recent cases involving thousands of people, including some former high-ranking state officials, using phony degrees from fake universities selling bachelor, masters and doctoral diplomas should be a lesson for many people.
A former vice president, a political party leader, top dangdut singers, television actors and actresses, were reportedly among people who received doctoral degrees from a foundation that said it represented "American Global University".
Police found the university to be fake and arrested officials of the foundation.
All their "graduates" received their "doctoral" certificates and study transcripts despite the fact they had never attended a class.
Good universities that run Saturday-Sunday programs for workers usually require their students to attend classes like regular students. Among universities that offer Saturday-Sunday programs Pancasila University. The Jakarta State University also has a special distance-learning program for students that also requires workers to attend several "meeting sessions" with lecturers.
Pancasila University's program officer Warsono said the Saturday-Sunday program given to workers was similar to the program offered to regular students.
"They (the workers) are taught by those who teach regular students and they also use the same books used by regular students," he said.
Warsono said the employee program is conducted from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 on Sunday at the university campus in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta.
The university offers two majors in their program: industrial engineering and economy, which could be completed in eight semesters, he said.
Pancasila University along with four other universities have also established an information center and a joint website on their Saturday-Sunday programs. The other four universities are Tujuh Belas Agustus University (Untag), Kampus Ungu Asmi University, Indonesian Institute of Technology and STT Texmaco Institute of Technology.
Laila, the center's coordinator, said the universities will continue to improve the quality of the programs to meet the demand for quality graduates.
"The employees are studying here because of they want to improve their knowledge, not just hoping for a diploma," Laila said.
She revealed that many participants in the Saturday-Sunday program had been promoted in their respective companies or got better jobs in other companies after graduating.
Work should not be considered an impediment to improving knowledge and skills. The Saturday-Sunday programs could be an alternative for people to advance their proficiency without leaving their jobs.
Study while working? Why not!
University Enrollment fee Tuition fee/semester
STT Texmaco Rp 2.3 million Rp 2 million Kampus Ungu Asmi Rp 2.34 million Rp 1 million Untag Rp 3.9 million Rp 2 million Pancasila Rp 5.9 million Rp 3 million ITI Rp 5.9 million Rp 3 million