The lure of studying abroad

The lure of studying abroad

By K. Basrie

As in past years, Jakarta and other big cities have been
flooded with advertisements and exhibitions about overseas
universities with a clear market target: Indonesians fresh out of
high school. The following reports, including those on Page 8 and
9, by The Jakarta Post editorial staff, indicate that education
has become a vital industry for many advanced countries.

JAKARTA (JP): Since the middle of the 1990s, university
operators and education institutions overseas, particularly in
western countries, have treated students from Asia like the
golden children.

It's not because they are smart, disciplined or even talented,
but more because their presence could rescue many universities
and institutions there from total bankruptcy.

According to sociologist Ariel Heryanto, who teaches at the
Institute of Asian Languages and Societies at the University of
Melbourne, the presence of the golden children from Asia,
including Indonesia, allow the school operators "to replenish
their drying up cash to survive".

Noted education observer Muchtar Buchori said that the
aggressiveness of the foreign institutions to sell their programs
abroad is due to the fact that the local markets in their
respective countries have become stagnant.

"Besides, they see the education system in Indonesia cannot
yet produce qualified education," Muchtar said.

Much more, he went on, the foreign operators believe that
there are still a few Indonesians able to spend extra money to
study overseas.

Indonesia, home to over 200 million people of which some 35
percent are aged between 19 and 39, is of course a potential
market for this growing industry.

In the past few years, foreign university operators through
their agents or "consultants" here have incessantly teased the
big market via alluring advertisements and exhibitions with a
bunch of promises.

They, for example, offer study programs focusing on skills and
knowledge which are relevant to the job market worldwide. Some
pledge that their programs provide access to job providers.

For the operators -- mostly from Australia, the UK, the U.S.,
Singapore and Canada -- Indonesia, despite the poor economic
growth, the dwindling value of the rupiah and the endless
political uncertainties, still has a lot of wealthy people who
are prepared to send their children abroad to continue their
studies.

Some of them have opened shop in Indonesia through investment
and joint cooperation schemes with local partners to catch the
growing overseas-oriented students.

The Swiss German University (SGU) in Bumi Serpong Damai
residential complex in Tangerang and several departments at the
University of Indonesia that are affiliated with foreign
universities are just two examples. Pelita Harapan University
(UPH), also in Tangerang, has even managed to lure foreign
students. Currently, 64 of its 3,000 students are foreign
nationals.

Many foreign universities, like Australia's Monash University,
initially planned to build a campus here but canceled their plans
due to the unfriendly situation in this country.

In terms of cost, studying inside the country is of course
much cheaper than studying overseas, especially when considering
the depreciation of the rupiah.

For the graduate (S-1) level, it costs a student an average of
A$10,000 (Rp 60 million) per year in Australia, or US$10,000 (Rp
110 million) in the States.

Here, at SGU, for instance, the annual school fee is about
US$4,000.

But of course students and parents have their own reasons for
the schools and countries that they choose.

Obtaining certificates from overseas institutions is not only
a trend for many Indonesians; it has also been proven that
overseas graduates here are far more respected than those who
graduate locally.

Those with diplomas issued by internationally acclaimed
universities -- such as Berkeley, Chicago and Harvard in the
States, the Sorbonne in France, the University of Oxford and the
London School of Economics in the UK -- have higher status and
demand higher salaries.

One basic motive for many people to continue their education
abroad is the fact that studying at local universities here only
teaches students to memorize and follow what their lecturers say.

It is believed that studying at overseas universities leads
students to be self-motivated and more innovative.

Another reason is that many state universities here treat
Chinese-Indonesian students unfairly. The institutions, for
example, limit the number of Chinese-Indonesians.

"There's no fair competition here and, sadly, the unhealthy
competition starts at the university level," Roem, who sold his
house to finance his only son's studies in New Zealand, said.

"Can you imagine (the quality of) our society and government
if universities, which should promote fairness, act so unjustly?"
he asked.

It is therefore no surprise that the number of students going
overseas has shown no significant drop in the past three years
despite the grip the economic crisis still has on the country,
plus the continuous heated political situation.

In the past few years, universities in countries like
Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and China have also become a
favorite choice for many Indonesian students. It's not only due
to the close proximity but also to meet the market demand in the
country.

In the meantime, one of the up and coming programs among fresh
high school graduates is IT. In many universities in Australia
and Singapore, IT programs have become a popular subject besides
economics and business.

Unlike governments in other countries in the region, the
government here has never placed top priority on education, an
oversight which in the long run might not do much for Indonesia's
future.

Only very few of the average of 15,000 Indonesians who leave
the country for higher education every year are sponsored by the
government. Most of them are self-funded.

In comparison, neighboring country Malaysia, home to 20
million people, finances about 50,000 PhD candidates to the U.S.
and United Kingdom per annum.

With Japan's advancement in past decades, it comes as no
surprise to learn that the number of Japanese students in the
States is 13 times higher than the 20,000 Indonesian students
there.

Perhaps there are several reasons behind the Indonesian
government's attitude. Only time will tell.