Two university professors warn that the government’s plan to open public schools to foreign investors will widen the educational gap between rich and poor, make access harder for the latter and endanger freedom to teach.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – The Indonesian government has ignored the country's education, opting instead for a market approach to the sector, said Marcellinus Marcellino, vice rector of the Atmajaya Catholic University, and Winarno Surachmad, former rector of the Teachers Training Institute (IKIP) of Jakarta, the Jakarta Post reported today. According to the two educators, a number of current regulations are harmful and do not provide the right solutions to problems in education.

Their criticism is addressed at a draft bill and a presidential regulation which list business areas that should be open to foreign investment. The education sector is among them

Under the new presidential regulations, foreign investors can acquire up to a 49 per cent share in an educational institution at all levels within the Indonesian system.

Despite the cap the initiative is full of dangers according to Winarno. “Even 15 per cent of foreign investment is enough to destroy our education," he said.

For him foreign investors would only seek profit-making ventures when choosing their partner institutions since “investors will only look for well-established institutions in big cities” with the result that “foreign investment will only widen the existing gap in access to education between the rich and the poor and between big cities and remote areas."

Rector Marcellinus agrees. As far as he is concerned foreign investment will reduce the emotional and cultural bonds among Indonesian students and endanger teachers’ autonomy.

For him the draft bill on education shows how the government wants to make state-run education institutions more independent financially, so that it can invest in more fields, but in so doing it is running away from its responsibility towards young people.

“For the 2009 presidential election, I hope educators will vote for presidential candidates who are concerned with education,” said the Catholic scholar.

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