Inconsistency in Educational Politics
Politics and higher education in this country often have bad relations. The politicization of education and policy inconsistency take place frequently.
So far, our attitude toward the world of education and knowledge tends to be ambiguous.
On the one hand, almost all agree that the level of progress and prosperity of a nation is largely determined by the ability to present superior human capital produced by an excellent education and innovation system. On the other hand, the measurement of development success in our political leaders' speeches usually emphasizes quantitative macroeconomic variables, such as GDP, per capita income and physical infrastructure.
It is quite rare that leaders begin their accountability speeches by reporting achievements in the development of human qualities, such as the human development index, the national innovation index, the level of literacy or numeracy and progress in public health.
In fact, scientists themselves rarely pay much attention to the influence of the variables of knowledge and education on the rise and fall of the nation-state.
In the book Empire of Ideas (2022), William C. Kirby identified a tendency to ignore the significance of education in most of the influential studies related to power, politics and the rise and fall of nations. Paul Kennedy in his classic work, The Rise and Fall of the Great Power, focused more on economic change and military conflict. David Landes in The Wealth and Poverty of Nations pays more attention to time and hours rather than education.
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Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson in Why Nations Fail dig deeper into the origins of power, affluence and poverty, but the word “education” (university) is nowhere to be found in their indexes. In fact, Charles Maier, with his in-depth knowledge of the condition of higher education, only gave a little space for universities to discuss the trajectory of the rise of the United States in his book Among Empires.
However, the world of education and knowledge cannot be separated from politics. For the sake of the progress and prosperity of a nation, we need healthy political relations and education, where political authorities provide policy support and a sufficient allocation of resources for the development of the education system. In a bad relationship, the world of politics politicizes education, bothering the world of knowledge production for the benefit of the short-term regime.
Regarding healthy political support, Kirby gave an example of the history of the University of Berlin, which was founded as a cultural weapon to strengthen the Prussian state after losing the war to France (1806), by renewing the power of knowledge. In his speech, King Frederick William III said, "The state must replace what is lost in physical strength with intellectual strength." In 1810, the University of Berlin was founded, with the support of resources and the policy of a higher education autonomy, and quickly developed into a pioneer of global modern research universities.
Many doubts have been raised in public opinion surveys regarding the scientific integrity of the country’s academic community in dealing with the power of money and politics.
Unfortunately, politics and higher education in this country often have bad relations. The politicization of education and policy inconsistency take place frequently. One of the indications is the chaotic election of the rector of state-run Sebelas Maret University (UNS). The autonomy of the rector election attached to UNS as a state university (PTNBH) was canceled by the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministerial Regulation No. 24/2023. In line with that, through the regulation of the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry No. 1/2023, the teaching profession is treated like a teaching "worker" with complicated administrative procedures that can interfere with scientific production.
Universities themselves have voluntarily dropped their scientific prestige by competing to award titles and academic positions to the political/entrepreneurial elites who were not involved in the development of science. Universities raise their incomes not through deepening and expanding the use of research results, innovation and scientific services within the framework of developing a knowledge-based economy, but by raising tuition fees and nonacademic commercialization activities.
Increasing the production of scientific papers does not show academics’ serious commitment to research and innovation activities to create new findings and give contributions in solving societal and industrial problems, but merely for fulfilling the prerequisites for promotion. Apart from that, many doubts have been raised in public opinion surveys regarding the scientific integrity of the country’s academic community in dealing with the power of money and politics.
World class fantasy
With all of its inconsistencies, the educational regime in the country has been dreaming in recent years of earning the title of World Class University. It is not clear what this means, what is the main definition of a world class university?
This lack of clarity in understanding makes the university more focused on meeting the criteria measured in the ranking system; even narrower, just the number of scientific papers indexed by Scopus and Sinta, forgetting the breadth of the Tridharma mission of higher education. In fact, according to Kirby, the main definition of a world class university is not uniform because it is closely related to the educational philosophy and mission of each country and community of nations.
Chinese authorities place more emphasis on aspects of the university's contribution to public good as the main determinant. Other authorities place more emphasis on the university's role in innovation. There are also those who place more emphasis on the centrality of tradition. However, whatever the main definition is, the dream of earning of the title of a world class university ultimately comes down to the quality of the academic staff (faculty), students, governance and international involvement.
It is not clear what this means, what is the main definition of a world class university?
First, it needs high-quality academic staff who can produce various studies and topics. For that we need a vehicle for academic freedom that guarantees freedom to teach, freedom to study and freedom to research, which requires a kind of implicit social contract between the university and the wider community. To become a research university, professors should become pillars of science development.
A research project carried out by a professor should involve other lecturers and students (especially postgraduates). The results of the research along with related references then become lecture material. In other words, the courses offered to students must have experts, not just a list of lectures.
In this regard, the determination of professorships should be part of university autonomy, because it is related to available resources and the chairs needed by each university, in line with the main scientific vision and mission. A university's authority to designate someone as a professor must involve peer review with integrity from within and outside the university.
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Second, it requires the ability to attract high potential students while maintaining the quality of graduates in a productive and special way. Students must be able to connect science with the realities of life; have generalist insight with specific expertise. A generalist insight is developed with a liberal arts education curriculum that is given to all students in all majors at the beginning of the course, followed by a selection of more specific disciplines at a later stage.
Third, an effective and flexible governance system is needed, accompanied by strong leadership with a collegial spirit. Thus, it is necessary to have a degree of independence from political interference regarding a rector election and the implementation of education with adequate resources to carry out its vision.
Fourth, we need a conducive ecosystem for the development of international networks and engagement, for the internationalization of local findings while absorbing outside findings and expertise. It should also can combine bright local culture and global vision.
Progress track
Lulled by macroeconomic indicators and Indonesia's participation in the Group of 20, we feel as if we have been already on the train of progress and prosperity. But at the zenith of the oil bonanza, Landes once quoted a banker from the Persian Gulf, “Wealth is education... expertise... technology. Rich is knowledge. Yes, we have money. However, we are not rich.”
The number of universities in Indonesia is about twice that of China, which has a much larger population. However, none of the universities in Indonesia are included in the world's 100 best universities. The contribution of universities and research institutions in increasing knowledge and technology inputs for economic growth is also insignificant, as seen from the low total factor productivity.
According to Kirby, the greatest global economic and political power in the last three centuries has also shown itself to be a leader in knowledge and higher education. France dominated Europe by force of ideas rather than military might.
The Qing Empire at its peak determined what it meant to be "educated" and "civilized" in the East Asian region. In the 19th century, the United Kingdom, France and Germany rose to become world powers, along with their preeminence in the world of education and knowledge.
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As a result, the state's ability to promote education and knowledge is vital for the glory of the nation-state. Improving the quality of universities is more than just an effort to increase the number of international publications. If we look at the trend of the development of great universities in various parts of the world, all of them grow because they have succeeded in absorbing elements of best practices from various traditions.
First, absorbing the tradition of liberal arts education from the Oxford and Cambridge model in England, especially for the undergraduate level. Liberal arts education provides generalist insight before specific skills, through general education by seeking interdisciplinary interconnections (philosophy, history, literature/writing, social-humanities, civics education and science) to be able to see reality more fully, and be able to integrate scientific capabilities with its functioning in solving real life problems and challenges, through strengthening critical thinking and problem solving power.
Second, absorbing the research university tradition from the Berlin University model and the like in Germany, driven by academic staff involving students. Third, absorbing public service traditions from US university models, such as Harvard University and the University of California Berkeley.
As a result, to improve the quality of universities, it is necessary to develop the Tridharma mission in a comprehensive and integrated manner. When Tridharma is carried out in earnest, scientific publications develop, contributions to public good expand, expertise develops and the culmination of all that can achieve a bonus, the status of "world class university".
Efforts to improve the quality of higher education institutions cannot only be pursued through push factors from the state, using shortcuts, such as the plan to "import" experts from outside, without looking at the quality of education itself in relation to the development of the productive sector.
That is a challenge for anyone who wants to lead and advance Indonesia.
So far, there have been many complaints about the low proportion of science-technology (engineering) students at our universities. The number of engineering students (and graduates) is only 14 percent of the total students (around 50 percent studying computer engineering), with the highest dropout rate (4.66 percent). In South Korea the proportion is 38 percent, China 33 percent and Malaysia 25 percent. As a result, we have a shortage of engineers. Out of around 100,000 engineering graduates, only around 5,000 work professionally in their respective fields.
As a consequence, we should not only see from the supply side, but also the demand side. To prevent mismatches between the outcomes of educational institutions and the business world, we need not only to revamp higher education institutions, but also to draft strategies and priorities for economic-industrial development that can bring Indonesia out of the extractive economy trap toward a knowledge economy based on creativity and innovation, which can widen opportunities for economic participation and the actualization of various human potentials, which enable broad and inclusive social mobility.
In the end, as Ray Dalio (2021) reminded us, throughout the history of civilization, the prosperity of a nation is determined by its ability to provide an excellent education and innovation system that can enhance human quality in terms of knowledge, skills and character. Then these superior quality people can work together peacefully, so that they can produce innovations, then receive capital from the money market and have the means (equipment) with which the various innovations they produce can be used in production activities and allocation of resources, which generate a reward.
However, this requires a strong leadership system with a big commitment to developing human qualities with a system of good politics and governance in a planned, integrated and consistent manner. That is a challenge for anyone who wants to lead and advance Indonesia.
Yudi Latif.
Yudi Latif, member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences
(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)
