Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesians are crazy about academic degrees and will spend money to get fake ones, prompting top educators and politicians to suggest a crackdown against those who sell or buy such accreditations.
A draft education legislation now before Indonesia's parliament includes provisions which prohibit the sale of fake academic degrees, and promise fines of up to one billion rupiah and one-year jail terms to those caught doing so.
Mr Muhammadi, a legislator from the National Mandate Party (PAN), says fake degrees mislead the public and degrade the reputation of Indonesia's education system.
The Kompas daily quoted him saying: "There has to be criminal sanctions for those guilty of selling or buying fake degrees. This issue has considerable effects on the national education system."
Real academics at some of the most prestigious universities agree that the government needs to act against officials and bureaucrats who seek instant degrees, as well as those peddling them for as low as US$200. Prof Martani Huseini, head of University of Indonesia's Sociology and Political Science department, said: "What's the use of having a degree if one is not qualified and has no real knowledge?" Many Indonesians admit openly that they have no problem with spending money for the right to insert Dr or MBA alongside their names.
A top bureaucrat at a Jakarta municipal agency who admitted to The Sunday Times that he bought a fake doctorate for around US$1,200, said: "I did it to advance my career. Since I bought it in 1996, I have been promoted twice already." The Straits Times also reported the rise in the number of "instant lawyers", who spend no time in classrooms and practise law after passing only one test, in Indonesia.
Mr Rizal Sutedjo, who is pursuing a medical degree at Trisakti University in Jakarta, said there is nothing wrong with buying fake degrees, as long as people do not go on to practice in that field.
"I don't think people should do it with medical degrees, or in fields that could put them in situations where they hold other people's lives in their hands." The practice annoys those who have spent years acquiring expertise and accompanying degrees, like Dr Martani. He and his colleagues have some suggestions to make people less degree conscious.
First, any degree listed in job applications should also include the name of the institution that granted it. Second, people should not list their qualifications in name cards or other official documents.
In the meantime, academics argued, as long as the practice is not prohibited, fake degrees would proliferate.
US$2,000 for his 'Dr' Vice-President
Hamzah Haz is the most prominent example of a high-level official who has acknowledged openly, in published interviews, to having paid for his title of 'Dr'. His degree from the American World University reportedly cost US$2,000 in 1998.