MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, YOGYAKARTA – Prof. Abdul Haris, Director General for Higher Education, Research, and Technology conveyed three priority issues in higher education in Indonesia, namely inequality of access, quality gaps, and the lack of relevance of higher education institutions with the graduates they produce.
“The low level of education has an impact on the global talent competitiveness index that Indonesia ranks below Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines,” said Prof. Abdul Haris in the meeting of the Rectors, Chairmen, and Directors of Muhammadiyah-‘Asyiyah Higher Education (PTMA) throughout Indonesia at the SM Tower Yogyakarta on Saturday (May 11).
Thus, the government needs the role of private higher education Institutions to support the advancement of the education sector.
Data revealed that 53% of Indonesian students study in private universities. It shows that private universities, especially PTMA, play a major role in helping the government advance higher education.
“Muhammadiyah has higher education institutions which have extraordinary achievements and produce alumni who contribute to society,” mentioned Prof. Abdul Haris.
However, higher education, especially PTMA, certainly faces challenges towards becoming a world-class university. The challenges include insufficient funding, human resources, facilities, lecturers, and uneven quality of graduates.
Therefore, Prof. Abdul Haris also reminded PTMA to have strategic plans to become a world-class university. The strategies may include international standard teaching, world-standard research, increasing innovation capabilities, producing global talents, international networks, and others.
Furthermore, Prof. Irwan Akib, Chairperson of Muhammadiyah, said that most of those strategies have been implemented by PTMA.
“There are eleven excellent Muhammadiyah-‘Aisyiyah higher education institutions, meaning that the existence of PTMA also supports the advancement of education in Indonesia,” said Prof. Irwan Akib.
He hopes that this meeting can be a good start to develop strategies to advance PTMA and education of Indonesia.
