Indonesia is not commonly known as a destination for International students, and numbers of inbound students are small, particularly in comparison with neighbors Malaysia and Singapore.

However, according to an article in Kompas newspaper, state universities in Indonesia are increasingly opening international classes, targeted towards foreign students. The total number of foreign students registered in public and private HEIs in Indonesia as of 2010 was 7,079. The students come from about 89 countries in East Asia, Middle Asia, Europe and Africa. In addition to attracting foreign students, domestic students are also interested in taking such classes despite the higher cost. However, opening of such classes are expected to be preceded by improvement in education quality, and also not to discriminate compared to regular local classes.

University of Indonesia (UI) currently has 14 study programs classified as international special classes, such as Economics, Accounting, Psychology, and Communications Science. The number of foreign students in UI is now ten times as many as that in early year 2000, the contributor being the existence of the international special classes. Meanwhile, at the University of Padjajaran, Bandung, foreign students take health studies such as Medicine, Dentistry, or Pharmacy and social studies such as Communications.

Higher education expert Djoko Santoso commented that before admitting foreign students, the universities must transform itself by improving the quality of lectures, increasing research, and publication of research, and publication of journals. Higher education observer cum Professor of Bandung Institute of Technology Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro added that the education service standard must also be fair. In other words, there should not be different treatment of students with the same major, and education should not be commercialised. At the moment, rules, guidelines and definitions of the international classes are still unavailable.

Source: print edition of Kompas Newspaper, page 11 (30 April 2015) as reported by (Indonesian Language).

British Council commentary:

UK universities who are looking for partnerships with universities in Indonesia may look to offer guest lectures in one of the State universities’ international classes as a first step in developing future partnerships. If the UK universities want to offer guest lectures in regular classes, they need to consider the language barrier (regular classes are taught in Bahasa Indonesia). This may also be an opening opportunity for UK universities to send their students to Indonesia, in which they can enrich their study and cultural experiences.

In terms of other types of collaboration, joint research and innovation projects can be conducted through the Newton Fund, in which British Council is one of the implementing partners. UK universities might also look to assist universities in Indonesia in publication of research and publication of journals, especially for universities that have limited experience.

For more information about Newton Fund:
www.britishcouncil.or.id/newton-fund