We are encountering serious problems with our higher education system here in Indonesia because increasing numbers of our graduates are unable to find meaningful employment. Of course each year there are more students graduating from higher education institutions, however it appears that because of the stagnant economy perhaps they require higher levels of independence and creativity in order to enable them to start creating their own futures.

I believe that this is not only an issue in Indonesia but also in some developed countries as well. However, I believe that there is perhaps a greater sense of urgency here in Indonesia because we have a situation where an estimated 40 million people are unemployed.

To a large degree I agree with David Jardine; "Structural reforms may take place piecemeal but corruption remains a problem for the higher education system. For this reason among others, Indonesia will continue to lag behind its assertive neighbours, Singapore and Malaysia." However, I believe that initial and very significant reform can be achieved as long as this reform is initiated by universities that are looking for, and ready to embrace change. These universities may well be those that are finding expansion under the current circumstances difficult.

Reform does not need to be radical as in the case of Sangamon State University, but this doesn't mean that all radical ideas in education should be discarded either, for instance the case of the Land-grant Universities. The GrassRoots concept could in no way be classified as radical, it is just an attempt to address some of the key issues and inefficiencies in the current system based upun actual accepted learning practices.

However, we do need a clear understanding of the key issues as well as an understanding of the basic role of universities.

"The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning "community of teachers and scholars".... "The original Latin word "universitas", first used in time of renewed interest in Classical Greek and Roman tradition, tried to reflect this feature of the Academy of Plato (established 385 BC). The term "academia" is sometimes extended to a number of educational institutions of non-Western antiquity". (Ref: Wikipedia.Org)

"Community of Teachers and Scholars"

Having worked mainly in higher education institutions for the past 30 years or so I had become entrenched in the system like most of my colleagues. However, some major questions started to emerge during the mid to late 90s that made me question the whole process of learning, especially within our university system. For the past 10 years I have been pondering over many of the issues of tertiary education here in Indonesia and those questions continue to haunt me.

I have studied a total of 14 years as an external student, basically because I have not had the resources or time to be able to study on-campus at the tertiary level. I have never questioned this, it's a matter of economics. However, a phenomena which made me do some serious questioning back in the 90s (while I was studying education) was; I'm an average student, I was working full-time at a university in Brisbane, Australia, I was teaching 2-3 nights per week at a TAFE (Vocational College), I also ran a small business on the side, as well as going to auctions on weekends to buy goods to service and resell, while studying a half-time university load.

Most of my reading and writing of assignments occurred between the hours of 11pm and 2am. This was ok because I am a night person. I still write some of my best work in the wee hours of the morning. Study just had to be fitted in where it could be. What I couldn't understand though was that my grades were as good, and sometimes even better than the average student studying on-campus, and when I graduated I was invited to do their Honors Program. I attended the Honors Program Orientation but by that time I had already accepted a position as a Consultant at the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Indonesia.

This whole experience stimulated much ongoing questioning regarding the purpose and benefits of studying on-campus. Continued...

Phillip Rekdale
Education Consultant
Jakarta, Indonesia

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