As a relatively young nation, one issue that looms large in the Indonesian people’s collective consciousness is education.
Ideally, we want our education process to yield bright, broad and flexible-minded people such that these individuals can go on to lead full and satisfying lives, and serve our society and nation well.
In 2008, the government’s investment in education constituted approximately 15 percent of the state budget, with a promise of an increase of up to 20 percent. This increase is crucial, because to reach our goal — where Indonesia’s education system functions properly — will take an enormous amount of work.
Before we begin making changes to the existing system, however, we should note that today’s concept of serving our society and nation, goes in tandem (and is probably even contiguous) with being adept at functioning and operating in an increasingly globalized world.
Whether we like it or not, a failure to address globalization issues head-on will very likely push our nation into economic and political isolation.
If we want the next generations of policy makers, society and business leaders to have the psychological and mental agility to take Indonesia to a level on par with leading nations in the region and around the world, we need to prepare them through proper education.
Here we come face to face with the need to internationalize the Indonesian education system. Ideally we should bring all levels of education up to an international standard. However, at this stage it is more
realistic to focus on higher education.
In Internationalization of Higher Education Practices and Priorities: 2003 IAU Survey Report, Jane Knight defines this process as “integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post secondary education.”
In plain English, this means Indonesia needs an education system that yields graduates whose qualifications are internationally recognized, and in their employment capacity can move seamlessly across national and cultural borders, negotiating any communication problems effectively.
According to the recent Indonesian Students International Conference (KIPI), held in Melbourne from July 16-18, Indonesia is in the early stages of internationalizing its education system, and has not yet addressed related teething problems generally accompanying any new developments.
During the conference, aptly organized by the Association of Indonesian Students in Australia (PPIA), numerous aspects of the internationalization of education were discussed, and various issues surfaced.
One legitimate concern was the likelihood of cosmopolitan “perceived as foreign” values eventually overriding local mores. However, if tasks are planned and managed properly and carefully, this should not necessarily happen.
One of the objectives of this process is to provide quality education that transcends cultural and national boundaries. This will eventually attract and motivate more international students to study, and quality teaching staff to teach at Indonesia’s universities.
If internationalization meant uniformity of content throughout the world, there would be no reason for anyone from another culture or country to go overseas to study.
Nobody would need to come to Indonesia for that purpose, for example. More importantly, very few would have learned anything that would help them develop the ability and confidence to deal with other cultures and mores.
So, national identity and local cultures are one of the strong attractions that make seeking knowledge and learning various skills in this country more worthwhile and desirable than doing so in a student’s country of origin.
The internationalization of education, however, is a process involving many more parties than just educational institutions. While the actual reform and restructuring must be handled largely by institutions themselves, without the participation of other players in society at every level of the political, cultural and environmental sectors, this process could cause fragmentation and unwelcome social division.
One immediate problem is the costs involved. If these are mostly borne by students, a social division would no doubt develop where only those who could afford it could enjoy education, while those who could not would be left behind.
If the government does not come to the party in time, development assistance would have to be found elsewhere to keep the program afloat until it reaches a stage where it could run on its own. Other organizations in the private sector or multilateral international agencies who share similar visions could be invited to be significant shareholders in the venture.
Ainun Naim, the deputy rector of Gadjah Mada University pointed to a trend where the regulated
and centralized welfare state is gradually shifting its focus toward market mechanisms or evolving
into a competitive welfare state. Serious measures to address the push of globalization may be behind this trend.
On a more optimistic note, the internationalization of education is not a new concept. Hindu and Buddhist institutions of 600 BC such as Taxila and Nalanda, operated internationally, using Sanskrit as their medium of teaching and learning.
Many countries with world-class education systems in fact draw revenue from their education export. In Australia, for instance, international education is the third-biggest export earning industry, bringing in US$17 billion a year and employing more than 100,000 people.
The added value this industry could bring to the Indonesian economy could be much greater, considering that this country is much more labor intensive in every sector.
There are, without doubt, many traps and pitfalls in this process, so good planning, budgeting and constant control, which Ainun Naim also emphasizes, are crucial.
The writer is a journalist and an adjunct research associate at the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
