sacrifice..

Wielding international educations for the nation

Er Audy Zandri

Jakarta Post/JP Jakarta

Over the years, mutual cooperation between national universities and different universities from developed countries has grown rapidly. Experts around the world have made themselves available to spread knowledge through seminars; and lecturers have been given opportunities to study abroad, to adapt and hopefully apply the advancement of education they received.

Universities abroad are familiar with International student quota, the minimum number of international students a university should have. And with more Indonesians taking these opportunities to study abroad, people can see now why educations in some countries have grown to such extent.

Petrus Ari - Japan

For Ari Petrus Santoso, Japan has been a second home. Currently finishing his master degree at Kwansei Gakuin University Kobe, Ari was a full time English lecturer at the Christian University of Satya Wacana, and once a full time Bahasa lecturer at the well-known Columbia University, New York.

“Unlike what happened in most western countries, the way education evolves in Japan does not sacrifice respect,” he said in a recent interview.

Professors in Japan are highly respected figures; they are experts who have released multiple scientific publications. “There is a subject called 'Seminar' in Japan, where a professor supervised 5 to 10 scholars in Thesis writing. When the subject is open, students will be 'hunting' for professors,” he explained.

Issues within Seminar will be prioritized in every interactions and discussions. “Not just in classes, but at the dining, drinking sake and even at karaoke. This is a culture in Japan where entertainment is an important aspect of life, even in education. Here, the bond between students and lecturers will be like family.”

Japanese scholars are highly committed to their education, focusing on assignments and reports like a man at a paid job. “What differentiates them is their work-ethic and precise time management. No matter how busy they are, they've always had the time to comply with their academic demands,” he added.

“In addition, kids are projected to enter the best universities since elementary schools. They grow to respect the hardship of working through part time jobs. And as everybody shared the same understanding, everybody is competing.”

“And because of this, all types of education facilities are provided with the best technology to sustain students' self-learning ability,” Ari confirmed.

Facilities apparently are not what Indonesia is rich at, at least that's what Pradana Putra felt from his studying in Singapore.

Pradana Putra - Singapore

“What really helped me with my education was their libraries,” Dana started his interview. “Books are the easiest things to find. Every university has their own library, and right at the center of the island, the biggest building open for public until 11 at night is the national library,” he said referring to the National Library of Singapore.

And as students there are positioned to read more, accesses to book in Singapore were easy. “No membership is needed for even the national library, you just go in, get the book you like, and read it,” he said. This condition is in contrast with Indonesia where Perpustakaan Nasional RI applied such complicated membership and circulation system for even students.

Second hand bookstores are also popular. With prices three times cheaper than the new one, textbooks provided are 2 to 3 editions late at the most. “And lecturers usually advised us to get them instead. Seniors are also selling their textbooks at reasonable prices too,” he added.

Bambang Wiratama Pradana Putra, graduated from Paramadina, Jakarta, in 2005, decided to go to the University of Wales (MDIS), Singapore for his master degree in 2006. He graduated in 2007 and has been writing for Esquire Magazine Indonesia ever since.

“I don't think they have much differences from us in terms of curriculum. But, in terms of punctuality, they have.” he said adding that lecturers in Singapore respect student's coming by making sure that everything is run accordingly to schedule.

Nevertheless, one of Singapore's weaknesses is the hardship of getting the right source companies for thesis. “It's hard. You can get a full-fledged proposal or even a permit released by the university, and the company will still say no to you. The source for my thesis is a company in Indonesia, an Indian friend I know went back to India for a source,” he said.

This is where the condition is different in Australia, where education bridged universities and companies to share knowledge. In this aspect, Mukiat Sutikno is a living proof.

Mukiat Sutikno – Australia

“At the beginning of a 2 and a half month semester, lecturers would elaborate us a project to be completed after next month, including interviews with International companies in the country,” he said.

During his time in Australia to pursue his master degree in International Management at the Bond University Queens land, Mukiyat managed to interview a number of companies, including NEC and Kraft, for his thesis.

Direct company interviews have many positive features. “For students, we can link specific theories in textbooks and examples given by lecturers to real practices initiated by the company, that through interviews, we know how to use specific theories in real company work.

For companies, the coming of scholars for interview to do a project or thesis is a free insight for the human resource department. If the research result is surprisingly good, than the HRD has got itself a prime quality fresh graduate effortlessly,” said Mukiat.

And the education system forced students to be excellent in groups, and efficient in timing. “Each project usually takes less than three weeks, and we were situationed to work with a group of people that we don't know of. To be honest, I thank this system because it worked for me in real life,” he said.

Mukiat is the General Manager of General Motor Indonesia. He entered the company in July 1997 and was told to do a direct sales projection presentation in front of the president director three weeks after his appointment.

Marisya Nurfatin – Belgium

For Icha, the lecturer's quality pretty much sums up the glory of European education.

“One of the most surprising things I first encountered during my stay was the level of care and responsibility revealed by the lecturers,” said Icha, who is currently taking her master degree in communication sciences at Ghent University Belgium.

In the early months of her study, she admitted to have difficulties keeping up with the fast pacing curriculum. “The reading materials were overwhelming, I don't have time to do anything else because I always have a pile of reading to do, and that's shocking,” said Icha who graduated from the University of Indonesia in 2006

“And when I seek for a counsel, a lecturer revealed a positive attitude, arranging a time for us to meet and make further discussions. What really surprising, was his arranging a personal schedule for me to follow,” she said, added that if she didn't make significant progress every week, a tighter schedule would be given.

For Icha, there is no other way but study, and that's what she think is different. “If you want to ask about something to a lecturer here, their knowledge will pour down on you like water, you can't stop it unless you turn the knob off. In my previous university, lecturers are like toothpaste running out, I have to squeeze them real hard to get something out of them,” she explained.

Another important aspect in European education is the absence of hierarchy, putting students and lecturers in an equal. “This way, both felt needed by each other,” she said. Even so, it makes students do whatever they like in classes, acting impolite and disrespectful. “For Indonesian like me, this is uncomfortable,” she added.

In America, nevertheless, the absence of hierarchy brings different kinds of respect. Maya Hasan, one of the nation's prolific harpists told us the story.

Maya Hasan – The USA

“I had been studying harp for three years when I decided to go to Willamette University, Oregon U.S.A. I was one of two Asian women in the school, of which I've never met, and I was pretty much on my own,” she started her story.

Just to illustrate, Indonesia only has three professional harpist to date; Heidy Awuy, Ussy Piters and Maya Hasan. No music school in the nation is having harp as a subject; in fact, only small numbers of universities in Indonesia holds music as a legitimate major.

Her pursuing the bachelor degree in Harp Performance back in 1990, which she had to leave after three years, consists of not just music subjects, but also general knowledge. “I had to learn everything from applied economics to practical biology. Yet, music was my major!” she explained.

“The first two weeks was a torment, homesick and everything. But soon, like other students, I have to study everything from the history to the theories of music. In addition, I had to be able to squeeze 7 to 8 hour harp practices everyday, ” she said.

She elaborated the demanding situation, which is also supported by the western culture. “When you introduced yourselves as a harp player, people would come up to you and asked 'are you good?' I have to be good in order to say that I'm damn good.”

And it’s not easy to be good. Nevertheless, as Maya put it, the western education makes it possible. “I have studied with everyone I know who are good at harp, because most of them are in the US. In addition, the education system and government are so supportive towards music. Banks, for example, can give music students loans to purchase musical instruments.”

And players who teach are highly supportive. “Several times back, I decided to study with different harp maestros in the US, but because my time was limited, they were the one who would have to arrange their schedule for me, and not the other way around, and so they did.”

For Maya, international education gives her what national education can't in terms mentality as a world-class player, and acknowledgment from world-class musicians.