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Wah. Udah cukup lama nggak mosting kayaknya. Soon deh. Padahal lumayan banyak bahan yang mau ditulis. Tapi berantakan.

Unmanageble Thought

Seperti judul di atas, pemikiran saya sekarang agak kurang karuan. Saya sudah sampai kampus sejak jam 7 pagi tadi. Mulai online di internet sejak jam 8 sambil download comic Conan. Buka email, edit-edit wordpress sambil buka-buka blog orang. Menurut rencana, siang ini saya harus menyelesaikan laporan PKL dan mencari-cari topik untuk beberapa kegiatan lomba. Yang pertama untuk PKM (Pemikiran Kritis Mahasiswa) acara dikti, lomba IWIC (Indosat Wirelesss Contest) dan XL writing contest. Tenggat untuk ketiga lomba tersebut kurang dari 10 hari lagi. Tapi seperti biasa, saya suka so you know sok tahu pasti bisa gitu. Berdasarkan beebrapa pengalaman pun memang saya cenderung bisa menyelesaikan apa yang sudah ditargetkan meski dengan jeda yang sangat mepet.

Balik lagi ke masalah unmanageble thought. Agak sedkit tidak karuan nih. Belakangn ini sering merasa pengen lari aja dari hal yang harus saya selesaikan. Misal skripsi dan laporan praktik industri. Berat sekali untuk bisa menyelesaikan itu semua. Berharap jika saya tinggalkan ada keajaiban yang bisa membuat kedau hal tadi tuntas dengan sendirinya. Tentu saja tidak rasional. Segala sesuatu harus dipertanggungjawabkan. Kewajiban harus dikerjakan. Setiap segala sesuatu ada konsekuensinya. Semangatnya saja yang harus dipupuk dengan maksismal. Bisakah? Kalau bisa itu bagus. Kalau tidak bisa ya harus bisa.

Seperti judul di atas, tulisan ini punmenggembarkan kekacauan pikiran saya. Berantakan dan tidak fokus. Entahlah.

Fulfil People Right for Higher Education: Study of Citizen Access, Government Involvement and Quality in Higher Education at Japan and Malaysia

Ini merupakan proposal riset API Fellowship yang saya kirimkan awal september lalu. Pengumuman wawancara seharusnya bulan Oktober ini. Kalau lulus saya bisa riset ke luar negeri. Tapi tidak terlalu berharap banyak juga. Proses “mencoba” sudah menjadi pembelajaran tersendiri. Kalau lolos ya syukur, kalau belum ya trial lagi.

Jon Kartago Lamida

Universitas Negeri Jakarta

 

Abstract

Equity access in higher education is fundamental because it is a part of human right and social justice that should be fulfilled. That fulfilment can be reached with support from government together with university. As authority in a country, government have to guarantee proper higher education is got by its citizens. As a provider, university must enforce good quality education to its student. This research will conduct in Japan and Malaysia, two countries that is considered has success develop their higher education system. Japan success can see from its advanced growth in economy and technology. Malaysia put deep concern for their higher education system. Malaysia even establishes Ministry of Higher Education for showing the concern and achieves focused agenda to approach their target.

 

Introduction: Higher Education Role and Challenge

Education topic has brought us to never ending debate. There are always problems; there must be always a necessity. Everyone should agree education has important role for enhancing life quality. But it seems just flying on the discourse, still far from reality. There are several obstacles that have not being surmounted to bring the importance through reality. Good education is still not delivered to wide audience equitably. There is fundamental right that has not fulfilled.

Hierarchiely, education system is segmented into elementary education in school level and high education in college or university level. Both of those are important. Yet, higher education has most significance because it has direct impact on social and physical development in a country. Those impacts are such as providing skilled worker, developing research and disseminating knowledge that can be used by the country.

Seeing from its important role, higher education in several countries such as Indonesia is still facing challenge and obstacle that have to defeat. Those challenges can be summarized with three points, inequity of access, financing, and quality.

There are several causes that raise inequity of access. But for the most it will relate to financing problem. It must be admitted, cost for providing high education is expensive. Yet that problem is not reason for being access limiter to people that has financing problem. It is needed proper cooperation between society as a subject of higher education, with government as authority, higher education institution as provider and also industry and company who will absorb worker from higher education to answer financing problems in higher education. In some advance country, financing higher education is fully under government responsible. Higher education is free of charge there. In other advance country, the term like research university try to answer the difficulties for university budget. University perform research and the result will be sold for financing university cost. Other part of obligation for financing is still must be paid by student. But see from advance country wealth standard, that obligation is not too heavy for citizen there.

High university financing problem in development and poor country is more complicated. Universities still need time to be a research university, while people are can not afford too expensive cost for study, because wealth standard still limited.

Third point is about higher education quality. Good higher education is achieved when its output have a good quality. This quality will depend to human resources, facility and sometimes, curriculum and method. Human resource consist educator, lecturer and student as subject. Facility is in range from building, books, classroom, library, laboratories, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and other equipments. The freaky side about facility, it will depend to financing.

Curriculum will decide the content of knowledge to be transferred. Curriculum usually determine by authority with university. Ideally, it should meet world work requirement without ignoring character development of student. Method will determine how the knowledge will be transferred. More proper method will increase effectiveness of knowledge transfer.

Although complicated, those challenged have to defeat to fulfil people right in good higher education. Fulfilling this right is part of completing social justice in recent human condition.

Education sometimes is considered as economic locomotive. Good notice in education will bring locomotive forward faster. Bad concern facing the challenge will stuck the locomotive. Economy which is stuck mean poverty.

Deep consideration in proper higher education is also showed by UNESCO as international institution that concern in education problem. Since 1998 it has launched WORLD CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION, Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Vision and Action. It consists good framework to solve challenges have been cited above.

 

Objective of the Research

The main objective of the research is to answer three challenges elaborated above. First, find way to provide equity access in higher education, second find how government should involve in providing proper higher education and third studying how good university manage their quality to fulfil good output standard.

After answering those challenges, it is expected several achievement. First is people right for high education can be fulfilled, second there will be an improvement for higher education quality especially in development and poor country, third after quality target have been approached, it is expected that economic locomotive at that country can move faster and can narrowing gap between advance with development and poor country.

One of the most effective way to reach those achievement are studying countries that is considered success in providing proper right for its citizen to higher education.

 

 

 

Develop Good Quality and Provide Equal Access in Higher Education: Lesson from Japan and Malaysia

Two countries in writer thought who has accomplished answering above challenges from several parameters are Japan and Malaysia. After great defeat in World War II, Japan rise with unimaginable speed and became one of the economic power in Asia and even in the world. One of the causes of this reach is their great attention in education, include higher education. In the commencement day of the country, they translate foreign books, send student abroad to study, give a good care to educator: teacher and lecturer, include scientist. This effort is worthwhile with their recent reach.

Education responsibility in Japan is managed by Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology. Although there is good concern in high education in Japan, it does not mean government provide cheap education. Different with their counterpart in Europe as example who provide cheap and/or free higher education, Japan Higher Education is expensive. But again, with good standard of wealth this is not big problem there. Several mechanisms such as scholarship and student loans are provided to overcome the expenses.

Higher education quality in Japan is clearly seen. With deep focus on applied science, Japan can growth as great industrial country with their products invade world. There is almost no gap between industrial and world of work need with university output. Even university has contributed relevant knowledge to world of work for improvement of quality.

Malaysia is another country with it uniqueness can bring their higher education forward. Since 2004, Malaysia has established Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). From this action there is seen deep consideration from government to develop higher education. Malaysian Government realize necessity of higher education in develop the country.

Issues that rise about higher education in Malaysia are internationalization, research and development, industrial need, focus area, lifelong learning, towering personality and accessibility.

 

Methodology, Work Plan and Time Schedule

Methodology that is used in this research is research site to two countries Japan and Malaysia. Writer will visit several universities, Ministry of education and institution that have relation for providing higher education services. The research will focus with find method fulfilling higher education right for people. It will be done by interviewing campus authority, relate to financing and quality management, interviewing student to ask their problem in accessing right for higher education, finding information in government institution in see how their involvement for providing proper high education to its citizens seeing from right fulfilment perspective.

According to topic broadness, the research will conduct in two countries for 1 year and utilize maximum time provided. For the first 4 months, writer plan to make research in Malaysia. Similarity in culture and language ease for first part research in Malaysia. This first four months also will be used as a preparation for second part research in Japan. Like have been mentioned, the second eight months will be used for conducting research in Japan. The language is one of the difficult factors. But writer convince, preparation will enough and research can be conducted smoothly in both countries.

Time schedule is provided in appendix behind this proposal.

 

Anticipated Output, Contribution to Next Involvement and Disseminating Plan

Anticipated output for this research is: applicable method for enhance higher education quality, public access and government involvement. Right to accept proper high education is fundamental. I believe from this research we can find good method for providing access to good quality higher education to wide people.

Education is dynamic, such as knowledge that growth. There is no final destination. If the research will have been being done, I convince it will contribute valuable asset to continue for the next involvement. Good education will result good character. Person who has good character will have good social care in living together.

A research will be useful if can be used by wide public. Such as this research, if the proposal is accepted. The result of research will be a suggestion for government to improve their higher education, quality and access. It will be a suggestion to university too. Alternative university financing will be valuable information that also should be found.

 

Bibliography

 

Lazear, Edward P. Education in 21^st Century.

Nazri Sulaiman, Ahmad. Current Update of Higher Education in Malaysia.

–. Pendidikan, Proyek Peradaban yang Terbengkalai. Jakarta: Transbook, 2006.

 

Newspaper

Agus Suwignyo. Pembiayaan Pendidikan Tinggi. Kompas Ranu 29 Agustus 2007 page 6.