It may be a cliche, but financial constraints continue to thwart Indonesia's efforts to improve the nation's quality of education, prompting universities to seek financial support from private sources.
Even though for the first time in history the government managed to allocate 20 percent, or about Rp 221 trillion (US$24.8 billion), of the 2010 state budget for education – as required by the Constitution – educational institutions are still mired in financial despair.
Despite the improved education budget allocation, the National Education Ministry receives only Rp 65 trillion to manage the operations of 83 state universities and several private universities. The remainder of funds are reportedly spent on training civil servants.
University of Indonesia rector Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri said last week that the lack of funds for education remained one of the greatest obstacles impeding efforts to produce skilled human resources. "The current budget allocation cannot cover all of our financial needs. Thus, we still need help from private sector," he told The Jakarta Post.
He added, however, that universities should remain prudent in seeking financial support. University of Indonesia decided not to accept financial support, including scholarships, from tobacco companies after receiving strong criticism for doing so in the past. This decision was part of the university's efforts to keep cigarettes out of higher education.
Still, questions remain concerning the acceptance of funds earmarked for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) support from companies in the mining, oil and energy sectors, some of which have poor environmental track records.
"It's not easy for us to decide whether we should accept the offers [from extractive companies]," Gumilar said, but quickly added that extractive industry firms could offer financial support as long as they demonstrate their concern for environmental stainability.
Chairman of the Republic of Indonesia Teachers Association (PGRI) Sulistiyo said Thursday that his institution firmly rejected financial support from companies with bad track records, including resource extraction firms.
Some companies had severely damaged both the environment and society, he said. "Should we accept financial support from companies responsible for damaging the forest in Wasior? I don't think so," he said, adding that the PGRI had previously rejected financial support from the tobacco industry.
Education is needed to prevent Indonesia from becoming a "resource-cursed country", in which dependence on non-renewable resources, such as minerals and fossil fuels, hinders economic development, Gumilar said.
"If we had highly skilled manpower we could develop entrepreneurship not based on natural resources," he added. Gumilar said that this was not yet possible because the state budget could not cover the costs of nurturing highly skilled manpower. (ebf)