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Currently, only 15
universities in Australia offer (autonomous) Indonesian language as a major
subject.
This year it might have been 15 minus one. In 2012, Indonesian language was
slated to be cut by the start of 2013 at La Trobe University in Melbourne.
This was partly because with around 70 students (compared to around 200 for
Chinese and Japanese) it had the lowest number of enrolled students.
Fortunately, Indonesian language was saved. This is probably attributable
to a number of factors.
On a national level, the policy focus has turned to Asia. In Australia,
Asia has been in the headlines. Indonesia has the largest economy in
Southeast Asia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected continued
growth.
Moreover, Australia relies on the bilateral relationship with Indonesia for
national, regional and human security.
Thus, Australia is beginning to recognize the importance of being able to
communicate and conduct business with its Indonesian counterparts through
cross-cultural understanding. With six Australian universities closing
their Indonesian language programs since 2004, prominent academics such as
David Hill have been pushing to reverse the decline. He echoed the
recommendation of the Commonwealth Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on
Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade that Indonesian studies be designated a
strategic national priority.
Another significant factor is diplomacy. In July 2012, Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard in
the northern city of Darwin.
At their meeting, Yudhoyono communicated his concern over the decreasing
number of Australian students studying Indonesian — a 40 percent drop over
the past 10 years.
Part of the problem — according to SBY and Indonesian analysts — was that
until last year, for nearly a decade Australia maintained an elevated
travel warning. This classified Indonesia as a high-risk country to visit,
which contributed to the reduction of student exchanges.
After Yudhoyono’s visit, the Northern Territory government made Indonesian
compulsory at the secondary (High) school level. Victoria, where La Trobe
University is located, has one of the highest numbers — about 91,000
Indonesian language students.
Nonetheless, enrollments are also declining — by at least
10,000 primary and secondary students each year since 2001. Yudhoyono’s
concern about the decline in Indonesian studies in Australia was taken on
by the Indonesian consulate of Victoria, which wrote to La Trobe’s dean of
the then faculty of humanities and social sciences about the importance of
Indonesian studies at a tertiary level. This no doubt helped contribute to
saving the Indonesian program at La Trobe.
Student action also played a role. La Trobe’s Indonesian language students
took several courses of action. First, they created BISA (Bahasa Indonesia
Student Association — for Australian students studying Indonesian at La
Trobe), which is associated with KILaT (Komunitas Indonesia di La Trobe —
for Indonesian international students) and promoted language and cultural
exchange between the two groups.
BISA gathered 1,195 signatures on an online petition that came from all
over Australia (including staff and students from other university
Indonesian programs) and internationally (such as Joseph Errington of Yale
University).
In addition, they gathered physical signatures from Indonesian residents in
Melbourne at events such as the Box Hill Indonesian Food and Trade
festival. The students also wrote an extensive submission to the dean
stating the importance of an Indonesian major.
The students felt it was the combination of their efforts, La Trobe
University staff lobbying, the letters from the Indonesian consulate and
the Asian Studies Association of Australia and also the current political
climate in Australia with its Asian Century focus, which saved the
Indonesian program.
Another important factor was La Trobe’s ongoing commitment to Indonesia. La
Trobe’s Center for Dialogue organizes an ongoing annual dialogue with its
institutional partner, the Indonesian State Islamic University (UIN). The
university has 96 Indonesian international students enrolled, as well as
852 Indonesian alumni, of which 367 are based in Indonesia and had their
first official alumni event in Jakarta on Nov. 2, 2012.
Victoria is the most popular destination for Indonesian international
students and Australia is their number one destination. So La Trobe
University did the right thing by saving its Indonesian program.
Since being saved, the Indonesian program has been busy with many of its
students going to Indonesia. La Trobe has awarded a $5,000 grant — through
its Global Lounge program — for one of the Indonesian studies/law major
students, Shelley Burns-Williamson, to undertake a semester-long student
exchange language immersion program at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta
(La Trobe’s sister institution).
Eleven of the first and second year students are currently in Makassar on a
similar language immersion program at the State University of Makassar, for
a shorter four to six week period.
Another outstanding achievement is that two of its students — Sally Hill
and Nick Metherall — have won the 2013 Australian Prime Minister’s
Australia Asia Outgoing Undergraduate award. The Indonesian program at La
Trobe University still has the smallest number of enrolled students and
must compensate for this by having its two staff members Zane Goebel and
Linda Seymour and their students extensively promote tertiary level
Indonesian to 95 of the high schools in Victoria to lift their enrollment
and sustain the program.
Having two Prime Minister’s awards will surely help. These two students
will be joining a growing research environment in Indonesian studies at La
Trobe, where there are four Honors students and two PhD students, many of
whom are working on important aspects of Australian-Indonesian bilateral
relations.
Hopefully this is the start of a new period of growth for Indonesian
studies not only at La Trobe, but elsewhere in Australia.
What about the status of Australian studies in Indonesia? A recent article
in Australia’s The Age newspaper noted that, based on a 2011 UIN survey,
Australia had become the second most loved foreign nation in Indonesia.
This was attributed to the perceived change for the better in Australian
attitudes towards Muslims.
Indeed, funding from the Australian government’s overseas aid program
(AusAID) is helping to build 2,075 pesantren (Islamic boarding schools).
Furthermore, AusAID funding provided for more than 330,000 Indonesian
students, as well as other scholarships and education assistance, such as
for postgraduates studying in Australia. This includes 20,000 plus
international students studying in Australia.
Will all this translate into Indonesian expertise in Australia? Can
Indonesia also increase its Australian expertise? An in-country Australian
studies program used to be offered at the University of Indonesia but is
now closed. Hopefully, 2013 will bring news of revival stories from
Indonesia too. ●
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