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Despite illegality, students rationalize use of academic ‘joki’ services
Despite being prohibited by law, for many people the line at which the use of the services of academic joki becomes unacceptable appears to be blurred.
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Illustration of a university classroom. (Shutterstock/Aquir)
M
any students believe it is acceptable to hire professional substitutes to do their academic work for them, with observers citing societal pressure and lecturers’ teaching methods as factors behind the rise in the use of such services.
The term joki is a catchall word in Indonesia, used to describe individuals offering various services for a fee, in academic terms these services range from sitting exams to ghostwriting assignments and final theses.
University students using such services may be committing academic fraud, an act punishable by two years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp 200 million (US$12,258) under the National Education System Law.
Despite being prohibited by law, for many people the line at which the use of the services of a joki becomes unacceptable appears to be blurred.
Kimberly, 23, a recent graduate from a state university in Malang, East Java, admitted that she paid around Rp 250,000 to a joki to help her create a product prototype from scratch for her mini thesis. But she claimed to have worked on the academic paper for the project by herself.
“I decided to use a joki service because I couldn’t make the prototype by myself,” said Kimberly, who asked to use a pseudonym, on Saturday.
She argued that joki services were only wrong if a student did not understand their work, leaving them unable to answer questions from their lecturers.
