In the media

The Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture has revoked 31 private higher education licences after finding that the institutions did not meet the required standards in terms of facilities and student numbers, that teaching was poor, and that there had been allegations of bogus courses and fraudulent issuing of diplomas. The Ministry will help students from the institutions concerned to transfer to accredited institutions. Teachers who are found not to have been involved in the fraudulent schemes will receive the same assistance, otherwise, they will be blacklisted.

Schools and regions can now use the data from the online Indonesian Education Report Card platform to identify problems, find solutions, and improve the quality of education and the equitable distribution of learning outcomes. Following several improvements recommended by the Education Report Card, Al Mujahidin Junior High School drafted teaching modules and learning objectives, 80 percent of teachers carried out differentiated learning, and student achievement improved.

The Indonesian Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) has arrested the Rector of the University of Lampung for allegedly receiving IDR5 billion (US$336,000) in bribes from the families of students who failed the university entrance exams known as the autonomous admissions scheme. According to KPK, the ‘autonomous channel’ exam conducted by universities is vulnerable to bribery due to a lack of transparency and specific guidelines from the Ministry of Education, leaving state universities unsupervised.

A 2021 Ministry of Education and Culture survey found that 77% of lecturers in Indonesia admitted that sexual harassment cases happened at their universities, but 63% chose not to report the cases to the police or other relevant institutions. Only 49 out of 122 universities had set up task forces against sexual harassment involving administrative staff, lecturers, and students. Sanctions outlined in the decree include financial penalties for institutions that do not prevent sexual violence and the dismissal or expulsion of perpetrators.

Instead of following the national regulations for granting honorary academic titles, the State University of Jakarta decided to pass its own rules. While politicians want academic titles to boost their public image and reputation, they are concerned about their careers rather than the university itself. “Usually, after the title-granting ceremony, funds or projects come in from the grantee’s office,” said a senior lecturer.

A University of North Sumatra (USU) rector has been involved in four separate plagiarism allegation: one in 2014, two in 2017 and one in a 2018 dissertation submitted to apply for a professorship. This is the third plagiarism case at USU following a 2013 case involving a lecturer and a professor in 2015. The two had been sanctioned with delayed promotion and were not allowed to hold any academic position inside or outside the university. The rector could face similar sanctions if found guilty.

Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd has signed a memorandum of agreement with four universities in Indonesia to implement Dagang Net eScroll, a blockchain-powered web application for employers, graduates, universities and training providers to authenticate academic and training certificates. This application provides a unique signature and time-stamped certificate that can eliminate forgery, unlike traditional paper-based documents.

On Tuesday, the Culture and Education Minister said that the government was aiming to achieve higher standards of integrity with the implementation of the national exams (UN) starting in 2016. To that end, the Culture and Education Ministry has produced a barometer, namely the UN Integrity Index (IIUN), which measured the percentage of student answer sheets that showed no sign of cheating.

The Research and Technology and Higher Education Ministry said that students graduating from universities and colleges that were inactive on account of various violations will not receive diplomas acknowledged by the government. The ministry announced that 239 universities had been deemed problematic and were now inactive, meaning that they would not get services from the ministry such as grant distributions, professor certifications and scholarships. The ministry would also deny proposals for accreditation or new study programs

The National Police say more complaints have been lodged against higher education institutions that are alleged to have issued fake degrees since the Research and Technology and Higher Education Ministry filed a report against one such institution last month. The National Police’s detective division chief said that they were currently looking into reports from the Medan Police in North Sumatra which targeted the University of North Sumatra.