Privatisation and marketisation of higher education in Indonesia: the challenge for equal access and academic values

Abstract

Increasing costs of running educational institutions and funding educational programs, coupled with decreasing government subsidies to support such costs, have made privatisation and marketisation of higher education a common phenomenon throughout the world. The article presents the development of this trend in Indonesia utilizing two recent government regulations: Badan Hukum Milik Negara (BHMN/State Owned Legal Institution) law of 1999, and Badan Hukum Pendidikan (Educational Legal Institution) law of 2009. Three main criticisms to the regulations include impartiality towards low-income students, the government's reduced responsibility and commitment to education, and commercialization of public universities. The article argues that the regulations and their main criticisms have failed to address the underlying causes to educational inequity and the lack of emphasis on the impacts of privatisation and marketisation on academic values and purposes of higher education. The article emphasizes the need to revisit the purposes of higher education, to reinforce academic standards and values, and to strengthen the teaching profession.

Higher Education in Indonesia: Contemporary Challenges in Governance, Access, and Quality

“…They find that the regulations harm low-income students, governmental responsibility to education, unbiased research findings, academic excellence and collegiality (Susanti 2011). Over the years, the Indonesian Supreme Court has been requested to review the 2003 law, 2008 law, and 2012…”

Is equal access to higher education in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa achievable by 2030?

“…This rise in private provision may pose challenges to the mitigation of existing inequalities via differences in the type and quality of private higher education provision that different population groups can access (e.g. Susanti 2011;Tilak 2014). Moreover, even the recent growth of private higher education institutions is unlikely to close the gap in enrolment with more developed countries.…”

Marketizacijski diskurz v izobraževanju: dekonstrukcija znanstvene publicistike

“…Tudi v Indiji velika večina študentov obiskuje zasebne visokošolske institucije, ki pa so pod strogim nadzorom univerz, ki načrtujejo in izvajajo preverjanja znanja, dodeljujejo akademske naslove, določajo minimalne vstopne pogoje ter nadzorujejo najemanje pedagoškega osebja (ibid.). Susanti (2011) predstavi tri najpomembnejše kritike indonezijskih visokošolskih reform: nepristranskost do študentov z nizkimi prihodki, zmanjšanje odgovornosti in zavezanosti vlade za izobraževanje in komercializacijo javnih univerz; predvsem pa očita zakonodaji da ni uspela razrešiti temeljnih razlogov za izobraževalno neenakost ter pomanjkanje poudarka na učinke privatizacije in marketizacije za akademske vrednote in poslanstvo visokega šolstva. Ntshoe (2002) raziskuje privatizacijo in kvazi-marketizacijo visokega šolstva v Južnoafriški republiki, ob čemer poudarja, da so bili odzivi visokošolskih institucij na globalne marketizacijske procese zelo različni, pač glede na lokalne razmere in tip institucij; ob tem uporablja teorijo odvisnosti od virov ter strukturalizem kot konceptualni okvir.…”