Even private universities, which educate around two-thirds of Indonesian students in some 3,000 institutions, are not happy with the draft, as the majority of its provisions relate to public universities. Although private universities outnumber the country’s 88 public universities, the association feels that the government did not accommodate their interests in the draft bill.
The bill says both state and private universities have to follow government regulations in developing their curriculums and that any decisions they make about offering new majors or conducting research is subject to evaluation by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Higher education, however, remains a luxury for the majority of Indonesia’s younger generation. Universities, state and private, can accommodate only one third of more than 2 million senior high school graduates annually
A new university bill will turn higher education into a business enterprise, according to protesting students. In turn government claims that the bill is radically different from that originally composed three years ago and leaves no room for such fears. The bill deals with funding for only the public sector, whereas management provisions deal with both sectors.
American-style business education has become Indonesia's newest growth industry. Responding to calls from the country's booming private sector for the preparation...