Mohammad Nuh: Universities Should Not Squeeze Money out of the Public
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8 June 2024 17:28 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The controversy surrounding the single tuition fees (UKT) hike has led Mohammad Nuh to repeatedly receive messages containing clips of Birrul Qodriyyah’s speech recorded in February 2014. Birrul, then a medical student at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, representing thousands of Bidikmisi scholarship recipients from the National Education Ministry, delivered a testimony before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Nuh, who served as Education Minister at the time.
Birrul testified how the Bidikmisi scholarship had enabled him, a son of farmers, to realize his dream of studying medicine. According to Nuh, scholarship programs like Bidikmisi provide students with tuition relief, enabling those from financially disadvantaged families to pursue higher education. “People miss Birrul’s speech,” said Nuh, who now chairs the Forum of Boards of Trustees of Legal Entity State Universities.
Nuh attributed the expensive UKT to universities being pushed to become state universities with legal entity status (PTNBH). The legal entity status allows the university to have full control over assets and financial management. However, several universities are deemed unprepared to become autonomous institutions. “The easiest way to generate more income is through tuition fees,” he said.
The former Communication and Informatics Minister suggested that the government provide incentives to campuses that have innovative funding sources beyond tuition fees. Nuh cited an example of the operational fund assistance for universities, which managed to find alternative funding, such as grants, an initiative implemented during his tenure as Education Minister.
Nuh received Tempo reporters Sunudyantoro, Yosea Arga Pramudita and Daniel A. Fajri in his office on the 20th floor of the Bank Mega Syariah Tower in South Jakarta on Tuesday, May 28. Nuh, the former Deputy Rector of Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Surabaya, is the President Commissioner of Bank Mega Syariah. During a one-hour interview, Nuh also shed some light on universities’ relationship with Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim. Excerpts:
Why did the single tuition fee hike become a polemic?
We cannot deny that the cost of education is rising. That’s a sure thing because the prices of goods, the cost of electricity, and the regional minimum wages are all rising. How could it not be going up? It should be realized that quality university education is expensive.
But don’t burden all of its costs on the public...
If that's the case, the public should not bear all the high costs. There are (wealth) disparities, so policymakers cannot use the principle of equality but rather equity. As an illustration, a short person needs bricks to prop himself up to enjoy the view over the wall. If both short and tall persons are given the same number of bricks, the short person will not be able to see the beauty of Indonesia. They cannot enjoy education.
The move to raise tuition fees is insensitive to the disparities. Do you agree?
It is wisdom, not logic, that should speak. Policymakers have to connect with stakeholders. There should have been a good survey when the President decided not to increase tuition fees. What were responses like? People should be happy because there is no increase. But because there’s a clause “but next year,” we have to be prepared for it again.
It means the government wants to buy time and pacify protestors by delaying the tuition fees hike?
We have to respect all the decisions. Thank God, the tuition fees hike didn’t happen. But it doesn’t mean it is over. There’s no increase for universities that are not ready to explore other funding sources. Will this disrupt campus programs? For ITS Surabaya, it’s clear there is no increase.
Do you have advice for campuses so they can become independent without burdening students?
Campuses must improve cost efficiency and not be wasteful. They must also find fund from non-conventional sources. Don’t squeeze money out of the public. The government should also be more concerned and provide funding assistance. They must have endowment funds for education and research. If all of this is implemented, education will no longer be about payments, but about the quality of research and improvement of education quality. The government should be the one to worry about the cost. Universities should not be preoccupied with funding issues.
What is an example of a funding innovation?
ITS Surabaya has ITS Mart. And it employs thousands of employees and lecturers. Imagine if (part of) their salaries are issued in coupons that can be used to shop in the ITS Mart. It is money circulation within the campus. If part of the profits goes to the university, the money can be used to provide scholarships to underprivileged students.
