Why selling degrees still thrives in Indonesia

By Nirwan Idrus

JAKARTA (JP): A few weeks ago a flattering facsimile came, citing my experience, qualifications and positions and said that I deserve a Doctor Honoris Causa from the sender's institution which I did not recognize. It also said that a decision on acceptance had to be made immediately as graduation would occur within a couple of days of the fax arrival. Oh, yes, also please don't forget to send Rp 1 million if you wish to accept the offer.

Although most people do not use the title of their honoris causa, in Indonesia many do. By its name, such a "degree" is only an honor to the recipient, perhaps because of his or her position either in government, or in society or for some community service.

Anyway, perhaps because I had already earned a PhD from a reputable international university, the invitation found its way to the wastepaper basket. But it would be understandable if some people did consider sending Rp 1 million in the next couple of days to be awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa.

But there are of course "degree factories" out there which churn out their products to get maximum profits. And why not, if the demand is there anyway. This indeed is the crux of the matter. As long as there is demand, there shall be supply, such is the natural law of the market.

Such a situation is normally exacerbated by debilitating economic conditions and unrealistic competitions for jobs and positions. In such a case therefore, those at the bottom rung of the qualifications ladder will always lose out in their pursuit for better jobs and better positions.

It is also not unrealistic to suggest that one of the reasons why those at the bottom of the qualifications ladder are there, is because of their lack of academic ability or at least a perception of such.

The size of the population, the limited number of "good" jobs and the need to have good jobs for survival have resulted in an unrealistic level of competition, that further erodes the self- confidence of those who resort to buying their degrees.

Hence we have taxi drivers with a university degree, we see a hotel porter with a university degree, we have receptionists with degrees and so on.

Of course it is very difficult to eliminate extrinsic influences; influences that we cannot control or modify.

* It is not your fault that the country has such a large population.

* It is not your fault if your parents could not send you to the best kindergarten, the best primary and secondary schools.

* It is not your fault if you can't get into a prestigious university because your parents can't gather enough money to bribe the right university officials.

So what do you think when you find out that the so called prestigious university you aspired to be your alma mater is ill- equipped, and the full-time lecturers nowhere to be found on a working day because they are busy doing unrelated consulting jobs off campus, lining their pockets at the expense of the students? One can easily understand why you might be thinking: Why not just buy a degree?

However, not all reasons are uncontrollable. It is no secret that we in Indonesia are over regulated. There are too many PPs (Peraturan Pemerintah; government regulation), SKs (Surat Keputusan; decision paper) and Kepres (Keputusan Presiden; presidential decree) on things which are really not even controllable.

Three years after reformasi and a new democratically elected government, the government still insists on controlling private institutions, through rules which simply do not make sense or that treat its citizens as if they were mentally impaired.

In The Jakarta Post of June 7 ("More private universities prepare doctorate programs") it was reported that government rules require private universities which desire to offer a PhD (S3) program comply with a number requirements, including a stipulated number of full-time scholars in the particular area of research.

One wonders whether the named Ministry of National Education officers understand what an S3 or claimed PhD equivalent degree is. The success or failure of a research degree candidate depends on the candidate rather than a battery of professors whose full- time status is suspect anyway.

It is time for the ministry and the government to treat people as adults. In general, people are not as silly and stupid as the bureaucrats think them to be. Why not adopt a hands-off policy and let the private institutions and the people to do what they have to do.

The fact that the business of selling degrees is still thriving in Indonesia is not because private institutions and citizens have nothing else to do.

One logical and more plausible reason is that the system, in this case the public service system, is providing a condition that encourages this malpractice.

If the system had kept up with the times and measured performance rather than the number of "certificates" a public servant collected in order to get promoted -- the so called kum system -- we would have one less problem.

If Indonesia is serious about being democratic, about adopting a free-market stance and about being prepared for the free-trade era, then it must seriously look into changing its governance role from control to provision of conducive environments.

It must let its citizens decide for themselves what action they wish to take and then take the responsibility for it. Caveat Emptor -- let the buyer beware -- should be the only declaration that the government makes to help its citizens protect themselves from the ravages of unscrupulous operators, including those who sell degrees.

The writer is executive director of IPMI Graduate School of Business in Jakarta.