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Strong economic growth in Indonesia is driving increased demand for quality education .
Northern exposure
Monash moves closer to opening postgraduate campus in Indonesia .
By Wade Zaglas
Monash University is a step closer to opening its campus in Jakarta , with a formal agreement now in place to develop institutional and research ties between the two countries .
The university signed a memorandum of understanding ( MoU ) with Indonesia ’ s ministry of research and technology in April , with the aim of forging “ solid and institutionalised partnerships ”, a university spokesperson said .
This comes after the historic decision made last November to grant the Victorian university a licence to build a campus in Indonesia – the first international university to receive such an offer .
The MoU was signed by the Australia- Indonesia Centre , located at Monash University . The centre is a consortium of 11 universities , with four in Australia ( Monash and the Universities of Melbourne , Queensland and Western Australia ), and seven in Indonesia .
The Jakarta campus will be unique in the sense that it will be solely devoted to postgraduate courses such as Masters and PhDs , “ as well as executive programs and micro-credentials in areas of high demand and a relevant sustainable future focus ”, the university said . Monash expects the first students to commence in October this year , with the aim of enrolling roughly 2000 Masters students , 100 PhD students and
1000 executive education students every year by 2030 .
The University of Western Australia has also foreshadowed “ increasing [ its ] engagement with Indonesia ”, calling it “ vital ”, The Guardian Australia reported .
The COVID-19 pandemic decimated international student revenue in Australia , resulting in far fewer international enrolments , billions of dollars stripped from the sector and more than 17,000 job losses . Much of the revenue loss has been attributed to the inability or unwillingness of many international students to commence or continue studying in Australia after border closures set in and online study was rolled out en masse .
Before the pandemic , Chinese and Indian student populations accounted for a substantive 55 per cent of the international student market in Australia . But as the borders of the US , UK and Canada became more porous , education agents warned that many international students – including the two key markets named above – were considering turning away from Australia .
Indeed , as Professor Andrew Jaspan told Campus Review recently , many Australian universities are offering discounts of 20 per cent to international students to convince them to remain enrolled online .
But while such discounts might reduce the short-term pain , the overall advice has become clear and consistent : universities need to diversify in order to weather the COVID storm and not be so susceptible to plunges in specific student markets in the future .
Speaking at RMIT recently , Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said that such concentration “ lowers the resilience of the international education sector to changes in global demand ”.
“ This incredible growth has been good for our economy , but even before COVID hit , strains were appearing and the continued rate of growth of on-campus enrolments was not sustainable in my view .
“ This is particularly true for our public institutions which have a broader mandate .” Recent diplomatic stoushes between China and Australia also have the potential to affect Australia ’ s international student market heavily , with the rhetoric heating up and the relationship commonly described as being “ at an all-time low ”.
Why Indonesia ? An analysis conducted by Austrade late last year highlighted that , in 2019 , Indonesian students contributed $ 1 billion to the Australian economy , with 18,091 students in the country . Although international enrolments dropped during the pandemic , Indonesian enrolments remained relatively steady , dipping by a mere 0.9 per cent . “ Strong economic growth in Indonesia is driving increased demand for quality education . This growth brings a need to upskill the workforce but industry demand for quality training cannot be fully met locally ,” the Austrade reports says .
“ This presents opportunities for Australian providers , in industries where skills shortages align with Australian expertise in skills development .
“ Under the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement ( IA-CEPA ), Australia and Indonesia have agreed to a skills development package of outcomes that guarantees Australian providers can establish majority-owned training institutions in Indonesia .”
Executive director of the Australia- Indonesia Centre , Dr Eugene Sebastian , said he was “ looking forward to the potential of this agreement ”. ■
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