Will foreign universities be beneficial for us?

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.