Uwika Surabaya Welcomes License for Foreign Universities

Surabaya, Est Java, (Antara) - The University of Widya Kartika (Uwika) of Surabaya said it welcomes the government's decision allowing foreign universities to operate in the country this year.

Rector of Uwika Murpin J Sembiring said the operation of foreign universities in Indonesia  will help improve the quality of high educational institutions in the country.

The decision is not intended to create competition among high educational institutions, Murpin said here on Tuesday.

"Through collaboration with foreign educational institutions with their high technology, our lecturers could improve their quality," he said.

He said the quality of Indonesian high educational institutions is still inferior to foreign institutions.

"Therefor, it is necessary to improve the quality of our educational institutions," he added.

Uwika already fostered  cooperation with Da-Yeh University of  Taiwan in developing micro and small medium enterprises in the country.

"The cooperation includes joint research on model in Taiwan. In that country, start-up grow fast. We want the result of the research to serve as a world reference," he said.

Da-Yeh has asked Uwika to visit Taiwan to discuss expansion of the cooperation with the Uwika leaders, eh said.

"This is an opportunity . Five to 10 foreign universities are allowed to operate in Jakarta. Foreign universities should also be allowed to operate in Surabaya," he said.

He said the government has taken a strategic steps for the country to improve the quality of its education, adding  privately owned universities should be the first to take the initiative in developing cooperation with foreign universities.

Minister of Research, Technology and High Educational Institutions Mohamad Nasir has said the government would provide the license only  for reputable universities.

The decision to license foreign universities in the country has triggered controversy with some observers saying it is better to send students abroad rather than allowing foreign universities to operate in the country.

Operation of foreign universities in the country would kill many local universities in competition, they said.(*)