Expectations on Government Regulations (UU) No.12/2012
Thursday, 4 October 2012, the academic community of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) looked so enthusiastic to attend the socialization of Law No. 12 Year 2012 on Higher Education. "The formation of Act 12 in 2012 is expected to answer the questions on commercialization of education, lack of access to education, the need for autonomy and quality assurance of university management," said Mr. Anton Sukartono Suratto, as member of the Commission X on Education, of the House of Representatives (DPR).
The spirit of the Indonesian government to pass the Higher Education Acts is to expansion of quality and access, the implementation of Tridharma and equality of education. The government has set the standard unit for operating and acquisition costs for the admission of public universities (PTN). In addition, state universities are required to provide a minimum 20 percent quota for new students especially for those who are less fortunate, especially from the remote areas of Indonesia, and in the border areas. "I really appreciate that in reality since the year 2004, long before this bill is passed, IPB has admitted students who has higher performance but less fortunate economically more than 45 percent of its capacity through a variety of educational assistance schemes and scholarships," said Anton.
In an effort to minimize the commercialization of education, the new government regulations will restrict higher education to get profit through the education programs. The Higher education providers are also required to provide funding supports through scholarships, tuition assistance and loans without any interests. "This policy is intended to open up access to higher education as widely as possible for the nation," said Anton.
Director of Learning and Student Affairs, Directorate General of Higher Education, Dr. Illah Sailah stated that the existence of such law is expected to prevent the liberalization of education. One of items contained in the law, according to Dr.Illah is the establishment of foreign universities in Indonesia, that include their types and the courses being offered. Foreign universities which will be allowed to open higher education program in Indonesia should have been accredited their home counties. "Foreign universities shall cooperate with the Indonesian universities upon approval of the Indonesian government, they should be non-profit organization, their faculty or academic staff should be Indonesian citizens and they should develop the Indonesian basic science and support national interests," said Dr.Illah.
As explained above, according to Dr.Illah, the new Education Bills will also allow the universities not only to conduct the postgraduate program; the graduates of the undergraduate programs will be allowed to pursue their doctorate programs S-3); Kopertis will be transformed into Service Institutions of Higher Education; the assignment of faculty members disperse the quality of higher education throughout Indonesia; and the government will provide financial support for the universities. In addition to the campus community of IPB, the event was also attended by representatives from universities in Bogor. (Wied)
