Traditional students will be minority next century

By Jenny Siat

JAKARTA (JP): By early 21st century, traditional college students -- those who go straight from high school to college to study "in residence" at the premises for years from freshman level to the commencement day -- will be a minority. Instead, non-traditional students -- those who attend flexi-courses, correspondence distance learning courses, and multimedia at distance courses -- will be a majority. Are there any specific reasons why this phenomenon is likely to emerge? The answer lies within the existence of the Age of Unreason, the name of an age which was coined by Charles Handy in his best-seller book: The Age of Unreason.

According to Handy, we now live in the Unreason Age, where the "upside-down thinking" dominates the whole phenomenon. As examples, we can call a person directly, instead of the place where the person we call is presumed to be. This is possible now by using cellular mobile phones. Also, now we can find information so long as we have an access to on-line access, such as the Internet. A click is sufficient to substitute the traveling to get the information. In the past, we have to reach the place by ourselves to find it, the traditional way.

In the world of education, the "upside-down thinking" applies as: "What you know is more important than where you study", which is very realistic and applicable in this age. And since the 21st century is the era of the brain, where only the knowledgeable will survive, it will be almost impossible to live without strong competitiveness in every aspect of our lives. Every effort must be executed to win the competition with knowledge and plus factors.

Knowing is the key of winning the 21st century competition, and it must be started since the beginning of one's higher education. Today, most of college students are degree hunters. They hunt degrees in order to get good jobs in the labor market. However, this paradigm is actually shifting to a new one: knowledge hunters. And, there are unlimited ways to gain knowledge, some of them are traditional, the others are non.

According to Philadelphia Inquire, by the close of this century, there will be 60 percent of college student population in the U.S. who are non-traditional students. This number is continuously increasing, from time to time due to current changes in today's society. In Indonesia, though there is no research to venture any guesstimate on the statistic, since the world is under heavy globalization, the transfer of trends has begun to happen.

Nowadays, senior high school graduates can choose to go to traditional colleges or to study non-traditionally. For those with traditional minds, going to college is a destination. It is evident with the lack of available spaces in public universities, such as University of Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology, and University of Gadjah Mada. Those who are not capable enough to be accepted at those prestigious institutions may choose to go to private ones. However, is it a must for all senior high graduates to go to college the traditional way? The answers is an absolute no, and we have become more aware of that lately.

There are certain people who are capable to enter universities directly after graduating from senior high school. Some are not. Those in the second category may choose to go to non-degree institutions, such as College of Advanced Education or Technical and Further Education, before continuing to degree level institutions either locally or abroad.

Taking flexi-courses is another alternative for those who prefer to establish a solid career foundation before deciding which major to choose and which degree to achieve. With flexi- courses, that allows students to take credit-by-credit basis, the transfer of credits is more advantageous for the students, since they will not loose many if they finally decide to study for the degree, again, either locally or abroad, in institutions with whom the local institution has made transfer agreement.

Or, if one possesses higher self-discipline and self- motivation, one may enroll in distance learning courses, either by total correspondence, multimedia conferencing, or with tutorial classes. This method of learning is the one with most obstacles, especially in Indonesia. It is psychologically rated somewhat lower class than 'in residence' schools, with very high drop-out percentage (according to International Correspondence School, it is 90 percent) and very lonely.

Both ways, traditional or non-traditional modes of study allow students to go 'global'. There are traditional universities in Indonesia with international affiliations which allow students to get international recognition upon graduation. The same 'international recognition' can also be achieved if a student chooses to study non-traditionally. Whichever one chooses, besides the reasons of selecting the choice of institutions is also of paramount importance, for it is not only the students who must strive to get as much knowledge as possible, but the provider must be of excellent value.

From education point of view, non-traditional modes of learning is the preferable and the most suitable, for it provides the chance to interact what they learn with daily activities.

The problems are: Are we ready to provide the learners with adequate facilities to make the studying process successful? Do we, the learners, have the required self-discipline and self- motivation to proceed? Do we know how to compete in the era where only the most knowledgeable will survive? To whom should we look upon to?

The writer is an observer of social and education problems, an alumnus of University of Indonesia.