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Campus cooperation and Trojan horse
The Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry recently announced that by mid-2018 five to 10 foreign campuses would operate in Indonesia.
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The Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry recently announced that by mid-2018 five to 10 foreign campuses would operate in Indonesia. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry recently announced that by mid2018 five to 10 foreign campuses would operate in Indonesia. These world-class universities include the University of Cambridge from the United Kingdom, the National University of Taiwan, the Central Queensland University and the University of Melbourne, both from Australia.
Minister Mohamad Nasir said this was not a form of neo-colonialism in the higher education sector, as some fear, but one of collaboration.
In the partnership scheme the foreign institutions need to be affiliated with a local private university to operate in Indonesia and focus on certain subjects considered to contribute to Indonesia’s economic productivity, such as science, technology, engineering, business and management. It is expected students will master both the key subject as well as English without having to go abroad.
This strategy is also expected to boost the quality and reputation of our local universities. It will accelerate knowledge transfer, improve institutional performance, build world-class reputations and thus contribute to the nation’s competitiveness.
In addition, this initiative is aimed at responding to market demand for better higher-education provision. Indonesia has a considerable top market segment hungry for world-class quality higher education. They usually pursue studies abroad as full-paid international students mostly in the UK, the United States and Australia.
Thus, it makes sense to capture this market by providing them with education of similar quality. Our local campuses will acquire a greater market share from the prestige attached to the foreign brand. The attachment will work under the slogan: “let our reputation build yours”.
This reflects a global trend where top-tier universities around the world establish their branch or satellite campuses in other countries. The partnership schemes vary from sole establishment to joint venture or by some other partnership. These foreign universities aim to attract students and business in other regions because of market saturation in their home countries.
