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University of Indonesia encourages education autonomy

The University of Indonesia has highlighted autonomous self-governance as essential for boosting the quality of education, following the repealing of a key law on the issue

The Jakarta Post
Mon, April 12, 2010

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University of Indonesia encourages education autonomy

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he University of Indonesia has highlighted autonomous self-governance as essential for boosting the quality of education, following the repealing of a key law on the issue.

“The University of Indonesia will always focus on the basic effort of improving quality and striving for an autonomy that remains in line with existing regulations, including the Constitution, laws and government regulations,” university rector Prof. Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri said Sunday during the university’s entrance exams at State Senior High School No. 68 in Salemba, Central Jakarta.

His comment came in response to the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling to scrap the 2009 law on universities as independent entities.

The law, passed on Dec. 17, 2008, was aimed at granting fiscal autonomy to state universities by recognizing them as not-for-profit organizations and thus allowing them to manage their funds independently.

However, students and other groups said the law would lead to the commercialization of universities, citing Article 41(7) of the law that said students’ fees would no longer be subsidized by the state.

Gumilar, said autonomy for universities would benefit the country as a whole, given that most universities acted on principles of good governance, such as transparency and accountability.

“The law did not espouse liberalization, but merely reinterpreted the 1945 Constitution by inviting the state, the people and private enterprises to play a role in contributing to education in the nation,” he said.

“The state, society and industry must bear the burden [of education] collectively to fulfill the increasing demands of our times,” Gumilar said.

He said even though the University of Indonesia had ceded to the court’s ruling, it still had ideas it wished to share with the government about autonomy, to be included in new legislation.

“The government will consider our feedback and we will wait for a decision by the education minister and the President,” Gumilar said.

The repealed law would have allowed state universities to seek external sources of funding to complement the government subsidies they currently receive.

“The University of Indonesia needs autonomy to increase our flexibility in seeking more funding to improve our facilities, especially our research labs,” said university PR head Vishnu Juwono.

In 2009, the university placed 201st on the QS World University Ranking. With more funding, Vishnu said, the university could nurture its ambitions of being a true world-class institution. (gzl)

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