The government will recruit foreign academics to become permanent lecturers at universities across the country. Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Menristek Dikti) Mohammad Nasir said Indonesia requires 200 foreign lecturers to fulfil international educational standards. Actually the quota of 200 foreign lecturers is still not enough. However Kemenristek Dikti cannot set a larger quota because it is subject to budget availability.
The ministry’s director general for technology and higher education resources, Ali Ghufron Mukti, stated “we want to strengthen collaboration [with foreign academics], which in turn will also improve the quality of our local lecturers and academic work […] such as joint supervision, research and publication.”
The placement of foreign lecturers in Indonesian universities is not open to all subjects, but only to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Nasir noted that several lecturers from a number of countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and the United States have expressed their interest in working at Indonesian universities.
The issuance of presidential regulation (Perpres) No. 20, 2018 on the recruitment of foreign workers which Nasir assessed was very helpful. This regulation aims to ease the licensing of the particular foreign workers the country needs most, including those who work in the education sector.
Nasir requested that Perpres which facilitates foreign lecturers to become permanent lecturers should not be considered as a threat. He said there are several criteria for the selection of foreign lecturers who want to be permanent lecturers. One of the critiera is that foreign lecturers should be able to collaborate with local lecturers.
However, Chemical Engineering Lecturer from Universitas Indonesia (UI), Muhammad Sahlan doubts that the foreign lecturers will be able to work well with the limited educational facilities in Indonesia. According to Sahlan, what are needed by universities especially for STEM subjects are not only qualified lecturers but also supporting facilities.
Furthermore, educational expert with the Indonesian Education Universities (UPI), Said Hamid Hasan, commented that “employing foreign lecturers, whether temporarily or permanently, will not improve quality as long as the [local] lecturers are not treated similarly.”
Commentary by Lisa Wilianto:
The recent Perpres will open opportunities for both Indonesian and UK HEIs to enhance collaboration. UK lecturers will be able to gain experiences in Indonesia for collaboration (joint supervision, research and publications) with local lecturers for a longer period, whilst Indonesian lecturers will get the opportunity to learn from overseas lecturers and improve the quality of their teaching. One of the aims of this programme is to enhance the quality of local HEIs.
However we need to take note that this regulation is still new and will need time to implement. Especially the fact there is still ongoing discussions on a special visa for foreign lecturers. In addition, Kemenristek Dikti is currently drafting the policy details including the foreign lecturers’ qualifications.
Sources:
https://www.jawapos.com/read/2018/04/14/204360/jamin-impor-dosen-asing-tidak-ganggu-dosen-lokal
https://www.jpnn.com/news/impor-200-dosen-asing-spesifikasi-harus-jelas
https://nasional.kontan.co.id/news/menristekdikti-kaji-tenaga-asing-untuk-menjadi-dosen-tetap
The Jakarta Post, Wednesday 11 April 2018