JAKARTA - The plan of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek) to review and close the Study Program (Prodi) which is considered irrelevant to the world of work has triggered a harsh reaction.
The Chairman of the Central Leadership of the Association of Indonesian Higher Education Academics (Asadiktisi), Prof. Dr. Susanto, MA, reminded the government not to be hasty. According to him, photographing the quality of higher education only from the perspective of "industrial absorption" is a very risky step.
Higher Education is Not 'Job Training'
In his official statement to VOI, Prof. Susanto emphasized that making industry relevance as the main benchmark has the potential to reduce the function of the university.
"Higher education is not only job training, but also a space for the production of knowledge, the formation of critical sense, and the development of civilization," said Prof. Susanto.
He assessed that this policy risked encouraging vocational drift, in which academic education loses its identity because it is too focused on the needs of the short-term labor market.
7 Reasons Why the Closure of the Faculty Should Be Reconsidered
ASADIKTISI detailed seven crucial points that the government must consider before executing the policy:
Reduction of University Mandates: Excessive focus on industry narrows the function of the campus as a printer of critical sense. The concept of shallow relevance: Relevance should not only be measured by the initial salary or the first 6-12 months of employment absorption, but by transferable skills and long-term careers. Vulnerable Bias Evaluation: Without multi-criteria indicators, the closure of the program is vulnerable to false negatives - closing the program that actually has strategic value in the future. Weaken the Knowledge-Based Economy: Basic science and humanities are the foundation of ethics for technology. Eliminating it actually hinders national innovation. Reactive Policy (Pro-cyclical): The cycle of lectures (4-5 years) does not always coincide with the rapid fluctuations of the market. The threat of campus autonomy: Top-down closure ignores the role of the academic community and the principles of university governance. Regional Inequality: Programs in the region are often the mainstay of local culture and society. Uniform closure will be detrimental to development outside the big cities.Solution: Transformation, Not Elimination
Instead of immediately closing the program, Asadiktisi offered an alternative solution in the form of coaching and curriculum redesign.
Prof. Susanto suggested that the government should prioritize the future skills approach through:
Provision of micro-credentials. Close collaboration with industry without losing the academic essence. Periodic evaluation that gives room for majors to improve."The right approach is transformation, not elimination. Give room for improvement, not immediate closure," he concluded.
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