The myths in Indonesia's higher education reform

By Nirwan Idrus

JAKARTA (JP): Various discussions with many Indonesian academics have revealed a number of myths around higher education. A look at a few of them reveals the profound beliefs among those who are supposed to be "agents of change".

Myth No. 1: We cannot change anything as we are only lowly paid lecturers with no power and influence.

Years of systematic conditioning have obviously blunted people's confidence to do anything, let alone to see themselves as agents of change. The preconditioning is so complete and comprehensive that they become helpless and incapacitated.

On the other hand, this can be an excuse for doing nothing, or for passing the buck to somebody higher. Unfortunately, this same excuse can be used by anybody on the ladder, even at the vice chancellor level.

The truth is that everyone has the capacity to change things. One of the most difficult things, of course, is to change oneself first. Any attempt to change one's superior simply by word of mouth is naive. The superior will need to be convinced, and the work of convincing him/her needs evidence, which can only be gained through action. While it is true that good leadership is half the battle, "walking the talk" is everybody's responsibility, including lecturers.

Myth No. 2: I have done all those things, but I don't seem to get the attention of the boss.

It must be said that changing paradigms is a long-term and strategic undertaking, and as such, one should not expect gratification within the short-term. Delayed gratification is indeed education. There is no reward without hard work; many successful people will say their gratification was simply in doing the job.

Humans like to get feedback for their contribution, but this can be gained by being generous with our own feedback to others, including our bosses; what goes around comes around. It is also true that we can be altruistic to a certain extent but not all the time. If we accept that delayed gratification is the norm rather than the exception, then frustration will subside. What is more noble is not to expect gratification from others but from oneself. When this is achieved, we are focused on our targets.

Myth No. 3: We cannot compete with private institutions as we don't have the equipment and other lab facilities.

More than US$850 million has poured into the Indonesian education system to date. A lot of this money has been used for new buildings and equipment at state education institutions. A lot of the equipment is lying idle because of a missing accessory, missing controller or because it is simply, totally inappropriate. A lack of maintenance and maintenance plans have rendered much of the equipment unserviceable. In some cases, it is not even what the institution asked for.

When asked what the management of the faculty or the institution has done about it, the answer is essentially -- nothing. Well, when you do nothing, you get nothing.

Meanwhile, there are small state education institutions which have gone out of their way to be innovative but practical, creative but realistic, and demanding of their staff and students but yet humanly caring. At these places, morale is high and flexibility is their modus operandi. Their equipment and laboratories are not overly modern, but operational and appropriate.

Their staff does not moonlight outside campus. Given that maintenance is a problem area common throughout Indonesia, their students are given tasks of maintaining the equipment they use for their academic studies as part of their studies.

In addition, there are many ways of acquiring equipment other than purchasing them outright. A private university in Indonesia was given over 50 brand new computers by a computer company. It wouldn't give away over 50 computers without rightly expecting something in return. The university must have therefore convinced the company of potential returns with a lot of hard work beforehand.

Myth No. 4: It's OK for those people with high self- motivation. But what about those who have not been trained to have such motivation and persistence?

Change must come from the inner self. It is not difficult to find evidence of self-motivation in everybody in his or her everyday life. Training does help, but it is in channeling and enhancing self-motivation that a little bit of work is needed. This can be as simple as reading a book on motivation.

One book that helps moving paradigms is The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. This writer has had a copy of this book for 25 years and its contents are as current as a book published yesterday. Another good book is Don't Worry, Make Money by Richard Carlson. It talks about self-confidence, creating abundance and fun in your life by divesting worries from your mind and creating the willingness to change.

The writer is an international higher education consultant living in Jakarta.