(The Jakarta Post, 19 January 2007)
Seeing Malaysia's economic growth, one remembers how many academic lecturers Indonesia sent to our neighbor during the 1970's, and how many Malaysians studied in our country. Of course this is not the situation anymore.
The number of Indonesian students in Kuala Lumpur probably doubles each year. There are many reasons for this, but it is worth examining our graduate and postgraduate system in Indonesia.
There are a great many Asian postgraduate students in the United Kingdom (UK). There are probably many reasons why international students are drawn to Britain, such as easy access to online journals and the value of the degree itself.
However, the UK is well known for its high cost of living. There are probably many Southeast Asian students who would like to study there, but who must choose Malaysia or Singapore instead for economic reasons. That is why both of our neighbors are promoting their universities.
By slightly modifying our postgraduate education system, we could attract those students to study in Indonesia rather than Malaysia or Singapore. This involves at least two steps.
The number of Indonesian students in Kuala Lumpur probably doubles each year. There are many reasons for this, but it is worth examining our graduate and postgraduate system in Indonesia.
There are a great many Asian postgraduate students in the United Kingdom (UK). There are probably many reasons why international students are drawn to Britain, such as easy access to online journals and the value of the degree itself.
However, the UK is well known for its high cost of living. There are probably many Southeast Asian students who would like to study there, but who must choose Malaysia or Singapore instead for economic reasons. That is why both of our neighbors are promoting their universities.
By slightly modifying our postgraduate education system, we could attract those students to study in Indonesia rather than Malaysia or Singapore. This involves at least two steps.
First, basic education facilities have to be improved. Recently, the Indonesian government signed a partnership agreement with ProQuest, an international online journal provider, which will support students in acquiring academic materials. This was a great step for our system.
Additionally, universities must provide more books and journals in English, facilitating international students in their education. This means the tuition fee will have to be twice as high for foreigners as for nationals. This is normal in western countries.
Why English? Would that not be hard for locals? The fact that postgraduate classes in Indonesia mostly use materials in English nowadays should not be an obstacle to Indonesians, and the demand for fluent English in the working world is always rising.
Lastly, postgraduate degree titles in Indonesia, such as MH (Magister Hukum), MSi (Magister Sains) and others, do not fit the international model. The Netherlands, for example, changed its postgraduate title in law years ago to LLM (Legum Magister in Latin), one of the internationally standard degrees.
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