Novia D. Rulistia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 08/16/2009 12:23 PM
Following last month's visit of top US educators on a mission to double the number of overseas Indonesian and American students enrolled in both countries, the Indonesian government was positive about the exchange creating a more dynamic national education system.
"I'd love to see more of our students studying *in the US* along with our teachers and professors.
"It will also be better if there are more American students and professors here, because that will create a more dynamic education system," Indonesian Education Ministry director general for higher education Fasli Jalal said during an interview last week.
While the number of Indonesian students abroad is likely to increase in coming years, Fasli was not concerned about this undermining local institutions.
"I don't see it as a threat that our talented students will leave the country to pursue their dreams abroad. Instead, I see it as a way of extending networks," he said.
A delegation of top US educators came to Indonesia from July 26 to 31, to promote US-Indonesia educational exchanges. The delegation, comprising dozens of university presidents, met with their Indonesian counterparts and members of the Indonesian government.
There are currently around 7,700 Indonesian students in the US, down from 13,000 in 1997. Currently only 130 Americans are studying in Indonesia, compared to 200 a decade ago. The decrease has mostly been blamed on travel warnings for Indonesia in the US, and a lack of promotion of universities in both countries.
The government believes the visit would make it easier for Indonesian students to study in the US, Fasli said.
"We've been working with AMINEF to make this happen. We have also been negotiating with universities to provide easier access in terms of finances, for students hoping to enroll there," he said.
The American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) is a bi-national non-profit foundation that administers the Fulbright Program in Indonesia which annually awards hundreds of scholarships to Americans and Indonesians.
Education expert Mochtar Buchori said that while exchange programs and studying abroad were positive for the country's education system, students also needed to prepare themselves sufficiently before going overseas.
"This would reduce the impacts of culture shock on students, because the education systems will be completely different *there*, and so they won't get depressed once they arrive," Mochtar said.
Fasli said the government had attempted to overcome such problems by providing thorough mental and academic pre-departure training for potential overseas students.
In response to the US mission, EducationUSA Advising Service (EAS), the educational advising centers overseas supervised under AMINEF, said it would also double its efforts to help Indonesians get better information about studying in the US.
EAS Indonesia outreach coordinator Brook W. Ross said that his organization would first improve its human resources which would be followed by improvements in services and more education fairs at local universities.
However, Brook said, many students decided to not continue with plans to study in the US on realizing the costs involved.
"We don't want this to happen, so we have opportunity grants to support students who may need financial help, such as in testing fees, transportation, and costs to apply for US visas."
Okki Kurniawan who recently returned from the US shared some experiences, saying that although he experienced culture shock in the first three months, he managed to adjust and took the differences as one of life's lessons.
"What I liked about studying in the US was that its education system always encouraged me to think critically. I also had a professional but close relationship with lecturers, so the learning process was more fun," said Okki, a graduate of Linguistics at Eastern Michigan University.
