Will foreign universities be beneficial for us?

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): Will the presence of foreign universities in Indonesia stimulate or obstruct the growth of our own universities, especially the private ones?

Many reporters have asked me this question. My reply has been that it depends on how we are going to react to these foreign universities. If we react in the right way, I think we will be able to benefit from their presence. But if we react in the wrong way, what is likely to emerge is a strained relationship that, in the end, may be harmful to our institutions of higher education.

What constitutes "right reaction" or "wrong reaction" in this case?

In my view, ultimately it is a matter of how we perceive these foreign universities. Do we perceive them primarily as potential predators of our own universities, or do we perceive them as "institutional colleagues" from which we can learn something new? This perception is, in turn, a consequence of the way we perceive our own institutions of higher learning.

If we think that our universities are the best in the world, and that they must retain their traditional characteristics no matter what happens around us, then we will certainly perceive these foreign universities as a potential threat to our beloved universities.

On the other hand, if we see ourselves as a young country in the pursuit of academic relevance and excellence, then we probably will look upon these foreign universities as possible partners in our collective efforts to build a bastion for defending the truth, expanding human knowledge and wisdom, and empowering humankind to defend itself against any attempt to enslave it. This is, after all, the common mission of universities.

Before we go any further, there is one question that is important to explore: Which foreign universities are likely going to come and operate in Indonesia?

I think they will be primarily private universities from English-speaking countries in the "West": Australia, North America (especially the United States), the United Kingdom, perhaps the Netherlands, and probably Germany. French and Japanese universities will, in my opinion, not come and open branches in Indonesia for the time being. They will wait until the interest of the Indonesian public in French and Japanese cultures and science and technology become equally as strong as our interest in the American, British, and Australian ones.

I also think that private universities from Scandinavian countries like Sweden, there are a number of excellent universities over there, Central Europe and East Europe, like the Czech Republic (the University of Prague used to be one of the best universities in Europe), will at the moment not be interested in opening branches in Indonesia.

What does this mean? It means that foreign universities which will come into Indonesia are likely to be institutions of higher education with Anglo-Saxon traditions. This will create some problems which will have to be solved wisely, because most Indonesian universities are basically still anchored in the old Dutch tradition.

The encounter between Indonesian universities and these incoming foreign universities will be marked by a number of mutual incomprehensions. Many Indonesian universities will not comprehend why these foreign universities are structured differently and operate in manners that are different from ours.

Incoming foreign universities, on the other hand, will not understand why our way of operating our institutions for higher learning is so different from theirs. The problem of incomprehension will be less acute for Indonesian universities in which a relatively large number of faculty members have successfully completed advanced studies abroad.

On the side of foreign universities, institutions with extensive experiences in cooperating with universities in developing countries will also be less hindered by this problem.

One point of mutual incomprehension will be the question of when to start specialized studies in college: Should the study of medicine, for instance, begin from the first year of college, or should college students receive a broad general education during the first two years to strengthen their general academic competence?

Another point is curriculum. Should universities design a uniform curriculum for each school of specialization? Or should the curriculum be tailored according to the needs of smaller groups of students or even for individual students, in which case the university's task is to design alternative courses for every field of study and publish a prospectus listing courses which will be offered?

In this connection, the stipulation that foreign universities must carry out the national curriculum in their operation will become very problematical. These foreign universities are basically global oriented, and as such, they will emphasize the teaching of knowledge, skills and values that are relevant to the global situation. Consequently the "national curriculum" will be treated as a part of this "international or global curriculum". Will this be acceptable to the Indonesian educational bureaucracy?

Will these foreign universities make our private universities less attractive, and will our private universities, therefore, become deserted? I think this is an unfounded fear.

My guess is that these foreign universities will not be cheaper than our good private universities and that they will apply a strict academic admission test to select their students. I do not think that "diploma mill" type universities will be allowed to enter here.

There are many other minor problems that will have to be solved wisely if the presence of these foreign universities is to help us strengthen our system of higher education. What we should not forget in this instance is that once these foreign universities start operating in Indonesian society, they become part of our system of higher education.

To a large extent, it is up to us whether these foreign universities will, in time, become "new blood" in our system, rejuvenating, enriching and strengthening the system we have had thus far, or whether they will remain "foreign" in our system.

I think the best attitude we can adopt in this case is to be open-minded and constantly vigilant.

The writer is an observer of social and cultural affairs.

Window: Many Indonesian universities will not comprehend why these foreign universities are structured differently and operate in manners that are different from ours.