Universities chase ‘world class’ status but lack funds

Indonesian universities are mobilising their resources to boost their international competitiveness and achieve “world class” status, the country’s Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim said, noting his ministry is providing “full support” for the endeavour.

Some 54 universities, both state and private, are currently being assessed by the ministry and supported in their efforts to achieve international standards. “We have to make improvements in the learning process, research and curriculum,” Nadiem said at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Indonesian Chancellors Forum on 15 January.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has also thrown his weight behind the drive. Speaking at the same forum, Jokowi, as he is commonly known in Indonesia, said the government must increase the higher education and research budget now, so that the ‘world class’ programme can continue under the next president.

He was referring to elections on 14 February, when Jokowi’s term in office ends. “The education sector requires a large budget and financing, but still, it is our obligation to find a way,” Jokowi said.

The state budget allocation for the education sector has reached IDR6,400 trillion (US$404 billion), which according to Jokowi is not enough to meet the needs of higher education and usher in improvements.

Concerns about quality

The low quality of the country’s higher education institutions, particularly in research, has been a long-standing concern for politicians. Since 2015 the ministry has pushed for the country’s universities to be listed among the 500 world’s best in international rankings.

The ministry issues its own IKU, the Indonesian acronym for the main performance indicators, for universities. These include assessments on whether university graduates get decent jobs, lecturers’ research outcomes, innovations used within the wider community, and international-standard study programmes.

So far, only three Indonesian universities have qualified for the ‘world class’ label under the ministry’s criteria. They are the University of Indonesia (UI), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and Gadjah Mada University (UGM), according to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking.

Last year QS ranked UI at 290, putting it among the world’s top 300 — a boost from its 2022 ranking of 305.

Professor Muhammad Anis, former UI rector, said the climb up the ranking was a result of UI’s hard work and strong commitment by university leaders, staff, lecturers, and workers. “We are committed to improving the quality of education, intensifying researches and innovation,” he stressed.

Universities set targets

In its five-year strategic plan 2021-2025, the ITB set a target to be among the world’s top 200 universities. It hoped to achieve this by intensifying research publications, cooperation with foreign universities, and opening up to foreign students.

ITB Rector Reini Wirahadikusumah told University World News the plan to secure a place for the institution among the world’s top 200 was “not something impossible if we stick to our plan, mobilise all resources and work hard”.

UGM, ranked at 254 by QS last year, says it is determined to overcome its shortcomings and challenges, and catch up with world class universities. But UGM Rector Professor Panut Mulyono admitted his university was currently behind institutions in neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. “Malaysia alone has five universities in the world’s top 100 universities. We don’t have even one,” he said.

Deciding whether international rankings should be a priority for UGM is one of the challenges Panut faces within the university. “Some are of the view that UGM’s social role is more important than a pride-boosting world ranking reputation. They have a solid argument,” he acknowledged.

Some have pointed to “the benefits our university can give to society around us, to give the community a more meaningful existence,” he added.

Regional competition

Some universities operating under the Religious Affairs Ministry have also joined the ‘world class’ university race.

Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University Bandung (UIN SGD Bandung) rose to become the “best university” under the Religious Affairs Ministry. Now, it has set its sights on becoming a top university within the Association of South East Asian Nations region, which Ahmad Sarbini, director of UIN SGD Bandung’s Postgraduate School, said was a more realistic target.

“There is still a long way to go, but we are heading for that goal. This is our agenda,” Sarbini told University World News. “At this regional level, it’s not a dream, it’s a plan.”

“Realistic and gradual measures” would be put in place to ensure the university’s relevance to society is maintained, he said, as the community benefits directly from the university’s existence. “We don’t want to become a world-reputed university but unconcerned about our own society,” Sarbini said.

“The quest for world class status would be meaningless if it ignores real local, national, and regional conditions. Any university that begins on the journey to pursue world class status should have at least carried out its local and national responsibilities,” Sarbini said.

To excel at the regional level, UIN SGD Bandung is now pushing lecturers and students to engage in international academic projects. “We encourage our lecturers to get involved and even initiate international joint research and produce more scientific publications,” Sarbini said.

He added that UIN SGD Bandung is now preparing international classes for foreign students that comply with international standards of teaching and learning.

Asep Saeful Muhtadi, a communication expert at the UIN SGD Bandung, said benefiting the local community should come first for the university. “It is ironic that we have a technology university seeking a global reputation while the technology of its people is inferior. We buy even the sketchiest technology from outside [the country],” he said.

Quantity versus quality

However, according to Sumanto Al-Qurtuby, associate professor of anthropology, currently at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, the high number of universities in Indonesia means that many are not of high academic quality. The country has 4,523 campuses with 31,399 study programmes, according to 2023 data from the Education, Culture and Technology Ministry.

“Like it or not, Indonesia has a low quality of education. Dealing with inferior education standards should become the top priority rather than catching up with world rankings,” Al-Qurtuby said. He pointed to neighbouring Singapore with just 34 universities, two of which — the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University – are in the world’s 100 top universities.

“Look at Malaysia that has only 100 universities. One of them, Universiti Malaya, is 65th in the QS world ranking. Four others are in the world’s 200 top universities,” he said.

Al-Qurtuby, who is also founder and director of the Nusantara Institute, a research organisation in Jakarta, said with only about 6,000 foreign students in the country as a whole, Indonesian universities have yet to become an attraction for foreign students. He noted that by comparison Singapore has some 55,000, and Malaysia around 170,000, foreign students.

Indonesian universities also have a low rate of scientific publications for a number of reasons. Al-Qurtuby said one of the main reasons is that lecturers are overburdened with teaching and administrative tasks. “Lecturers have very limited time for research and writing, with a low rate of compensation,” he said.