Assessing university autonomy

Assessing university autonomy Mayling Oey-Gardiner  ;   A Professor at the University of Indonesia, Member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences

JAKARTA POST, 04 Mei 2013

  

Law No. 9/2009 on Education Legal Entity reinstates the autonomy of seven state universities (less than one in 10 nationally) which had earlier been awarded the status of state-owned legal entities. 

This status, which is different from the purely government administered status of other state universities, provided for the legal authority to act autonomously in terms of both academic and non-academic matters. 

Under the new law, this autonomy is seen as a road to progress through the encouragement it provides for these universities to expand their study programs, to create a better “academic” atmosphere for conducting research and to establish international collaboration in research and publication. 

Student activities will also benefit both in academia and in developing social awareness and responsibility and, in addition, autonomy will also pave the way for improving governance practices including greater transparency, accountability and efficiency. 

But all these potential advantages designed to help give Indonesian higher education a firmer footing on the world stage are currently in jeopardy as the underlying law is being challenged.

The first attack on higher education autonomy came when a group of people representing private educational institutions requested a judicial review of the education legal entity law that, beyond the aforementioned seven state universities, required most educational institutions to be legal entities — from playgroups to universities and including all private as well as some public institutions. 

The reason for the challenge was that private schools are currently owned and managed by foundations and some, including many religiously affiliated foundations, operate numerous schools at all levels and even across the country. 

The judicial review was approved by the Constitutional Court in March 2010, which declared the whole law unconstitutional, even though the judicial review request was limited to the legal-entity requirement. 

In fact, some of these private institutions have had a long history, having been established at a time when laws underlying the establishment of educational institutions were very different. A person or a group of people could start an educational institution simply by making the necessary investments. 

Over time these laws required these organizations to become foundations and to be recognized legal entities. But the 2009 law muddied these waters by creating a rift between the owners/foundations and the administration of these educational institutions. 

This can be exemplified by the private Trisakti University in Jakarta where the assets are being fought over by the foundation and administration.

However, it is this same law which extended autonomy to the seven state universities. And thus, when the Constitutional Court declared the law unconstitutional, these same universities also lost the legal basis for their existence. 

This was the first setback to autonomy and effectively created a vacuum for the autonomous universities, which now had no legal status. As a result the government had to take swift action, leading to Law No. 12/2012, known as the Higher Education Institutions Law (UU PT) according to which the seven state universities could select one of three financial statuses — autonomous, as a work unit of the Ministry of Education, or as a public-service state institution similar, for example, to public hospitals.

The second attack came when a group of students from Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, submitted a motion for judicial review of the higher education law in October 2012. 

They opposed the option of autonomy because they believed that this would lead to a “corporate mentality” with rising tuition fees and reduced opportunities for poorer students to gain access to these institutions. 

Unfortunately this also overlooked the fact that increased tuition fees have been a fact of life at all public universities and that some collect higher fees than those charged by the seven universities opting for autonomy.

Moreover, what the students refuse to acknowledge is that autonomous universities may actually be in a better position to assist the poor through cross-subsidization. 

They claim that the amount parents are willing to pay is the only determining factor for admission, but fail to provide proof. 

And while it is true that state universities have raised tuition fees and demand relatively higher fees from better-off students, the additional funds can also be used to cross-subsidize well-earned admissions among the less fortunate. 

The attacks have come in waves — even before the Constitutional Court has made a decision on whether to grant the petition of these applicants to declare a number of paragraphs unconstitutional, already another group of students has filed for a judicial review of the same law.

Anxiously awaiting the outcome, the proponents of autonomy are still waiting for the Constitutional Court to make their decision and the question remains: are the seven currently autonomous universities to lose this status? ●

Liberal Arts Dasar Pendidikan Tinggi

Liberal Arts Dasar Pendidikan Tinggi Mayling Oey-Gardiner ; Ketua Pusat LA, UPJGB FEUI; Anggota Komisi Ilmu Sosial AIPI

KOMPAS, 28 November 2012

Walaupun berkembang di Eropa sejak zaman antik, dunia kontemporer mengenal pendidikan liberal arts mengakar di Amerika Serikat. Kecuali community college yang menyediakan pendidikan terapan, praktis semua pendidikan tinggi setingkat S-1 berparadigma liberal arts. Hal ini dapat dibaca dalam situs web perguruan tinggi (PT) AS yang masuk peringkat utama dunia. Sebutlah seperti PT swasta Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, juga negeri, antara lain University of California, University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, serta institut teknis, seperti MIT, IIT, dan Caltech. Menurut Academic Ranking of World Universities 2012: dari 25 PT dunia terbaik 19 adalah PT AS; dari 50 PT terbaik 36 berasal dari AS. Tidak heran bila paradigma liberal arts makin banyak diimpor negara lain, termasuk Eropa. Bahkan, paradigma ini akan menjadi skema dasar pendidikan di Eropa dan Australia, juga di PT ternama sejumlah negara Asia, seperti Jepang, Korea, Hongkong, India, dan Pakistan. National University of Singapore pun— yang melejit masuk ranking dunia—mengadopsi liberal arts. Pengertian liberal arts berasal dari zaman antik klasik. Liberal arts dipelajari oleh warga bebas dalam arti bukan budak. Waktu itu pendidikan liberal arts terdiri dari gramatika, retorika, dan logika. Pada periode Abad Pertengahan, ketiga kemampuan yang dinamakan trivium itu dirasa memerlukan imbangan quadrivium yang meliputi matematika, geometri, musik, dan astronomi (termasuk astrologi). Ketujuh bidang ini masuk kurikulum PT Abad Pertengahan. Ciri penting hasil didikan liberal arts: bekal dan fondasi luas pada berbagai bidang ilmu dasar. Dengan kemampuan berekspresi lewat cara berbahasa (gramatika dan retorika) dan matematika (logika), lulusannya dimampukan mengutarakan pendapat dengan bahasa yang baik dan benar, sistematis dan logis. Mereka juga dibentuk menjadi manusia utuh, intelek yang mampu berpikir dan berwawasan luas karena juga paham geometri, musik dan astronomi. Dengan bekal demikian lulusannya lebih mampu berpikir, menyesuaikan diri dengan lingkungan dan bahkan mampu mengubah lingkungannya. Jangan heran jika ada sejarawan menduduki puncak pimpinan bank. Pendidikan liberal arts memberi bekal dasar ilmu pengetahuan yang memungkinkan lulusannya berpikir bebas, kreatif, dan bertanggung jawab secara ilmiah. Mereka akan dimampukan mengikuti perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan. Bahkan, mereka akan dapat menambah pengetahuan di bidang yang mungkin sekali dianggap tidak berhubungan, seperti ilmu pasti dan alam yang dipelajari bersamaan dengan kesenian atau olahraga. Menjawab Pasar Pasar tenaga kerja, terutama bagi lulusan PT, akan terus berubah pesat. Hal ini terkait dengan perkembangan teknologi dan saling keterkaitan dalam pasar global yang juga berdampak besar pada Indonesia. Maka, mereka yang berpendidikan tinggi dan ingin relevan dalam pasar kerja harus terus mampu mengembangkan pengetahuan agar peluang berganti haluan, bahkan berganti profesi, tetap terbuka. Dunia yang berubah cepat membutuhkan berbagai profesi dan vokasi dengan kemampuan imajinasi luas dan kritis. Kebutuhan pengetahuan dasar tersebut lebih tepat dipenuhi oleh program pendidikan liberal arts yang menyiapkan siswa agar mampu menjawab tantangan yang terus berkembang (James Engell, Harvard University). Paradigma liberal arts berbeda dengan di Indonesia. Di satu sisi, pendidikan liberal arts menyiapkan lulusan untuk terus mengembangkan pemikiran serta mampu melanglang buana menghasilkan kreasi dan inovasi secara teknologi dan sosial. Sebaliknya, pemerintah, yang meletakkan dasar harapan orangtua, bervisi jauh lebih jangka pendek. Orangtua mengharapkan putra- putrinya selesai S-1 langsung memasuki dunia kerja dengan keterampilan vokasi. Makin banyak jenis vokasi tidak lagi mengikuti ilmu pengetahuan tetapi sudah merupakan ilmu terapan. Adalah dalam konteks demikian diusahakan paradigma liberal arts. Semua siswa diperkenalkan pada berbagai bidang ilmu pengetahuan dalam kelompok (1) humaniora, (2) ilmu pengetahuan alam, dan (3) ilmu pengetahuan sosial. Tekanan diberikan pada pengembangan kemampuan berpikir dan menulis kritis melalui perkenalan dengan kesusastraan Indonesia. Pengembangan ini menjawab keluhan dosen tentang ketidakmampuan mahasiswa memformulasikan pertanyaan, pendapat, ataupun menulis esai untuk membangun argumentasi secara ilmiah. Pengembangan bahasa Indonesia didukung pelajaran matematika yang menekankan logika sebagai dasar berpikir. Perkenalan pada berbagai bidang ilmu pengetahuan alam dan sosial diharapkan membangun kesadaran mahasiswa tentang lingkungan fisik serta sosial yang tidak terpisah dan harus dihadapi pada saat bersamaan. Dengan landasan pendidikan liberal arts, diperkirakan lulusan S-1 lebih siap menyerap pengetahuan, termasuk ilmu terapan dalam dunia profesi yang akan digelutinya. ●