The country’s power is in these statistics but also in its “ambitious” nature as a player on the global higher education stage, explains Summer Xia, British Council country director for Indonesia and lead for Southeast Asia.
Much of the British Council’s internationalisation efforts across the Southeast Asia region lie in promoting the value of a UK education abroad but Xia is keen to talk up the educational opportunities the region can offer to international students, global institutions and future leaders.
“Student mobility should go in both directions. As much as we promote UK as a study destination for Indonesians, we also want to promote Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia as host destinations for UK students,” says Xia.
“There are many, many benefits. The cultural diversity, entrepreneurial energy, and creativity of this region is so rich and so inspiring.”
Xia also notes a certain willingness amongst citizens in the region to welcome international students.
“You may not get that in every part of the world, whereas people really want to make sure you have the best time coming here.
“This part of the world is growing rapidly and countries are at different stages. It offers rich diversity. It offers massive opportunities.”
“Look to Southeast Asia. Look to ASEAN. Look to countries like Indonesia,” Xia advises UK university stakeholders looking to diversify the portfolio of both their students and international engagement.
He highlights the importance of creating graduates that wield “a good ASEAN literacy” allowing them to work with Indonesia, and work with other ASEAN countries, effectively.
“These people-to-people links will weather the political storm and will overcome many of the challenges we face in today’s world. Because once you have established that link, it could last a lifetime and beyond.”
When it comes to internationalisation, particularly in Indonesia, the environment has changed notably in recent years, The PIE News learns.
“I think the demand for TNE has certainly grown significantly over the last 10 years since the current government has been in power in Indonesia… they are opening up, they are welcoming international education and foreign universities to come in,” shares Xia.
For example, in January 2024, it was announced that the Indonesian government had approved the UK’s Lancaster University and Australia’s Deakin University plan to open an international branch campus in Bandung, West Java.
“The current education minister is actively promoting Indonesia and encouraging universities from outside to come in and set up a presence, whatever that might be,” says Xia.
These people-to-people links, will weather the political storm
Summer Xia, British Council
And that’s where the British Council comes in.
“This is where we want to build more mutually beneficial, long lasting and impactful partnerships that will enable the institutions from both sides to work together,” says Xia.
Regardless of positioning within rankings, British Council can assist UK universities in promoting the specific areas of excellence within institutions, he explains.
In late 2022, British Council and British Embassy Jakarta arranged for 13 UK universities to visited the capital as part of a higher education trade mission.
One university to have worked closely with British Council in partnership development in Indonesia is the University of Dundee. Since 2014, it has been developing partnerships in Singapore, Malaysia and more recently Indonesia. Now, the university is looking more widely to Thailand and Vietnam.
Through the Going Global Partnerships grant, British Council supported the university to launch a dual degree program at an undergraduate level, focused on biomedical studies, together with the Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences.
The program is the first of its kind between Scotland and Indonesia and welcomed its first cohort of students in September 2023.
“I honestly think we couldn’t have done it without the invaluable support and advice from the British Council,” Kim Dale, assistant vice principal international and research scientist at the University of Dundee, tells The PIE.
“We first met i3L in February 2020 and due to the pandemic our partnership development journey was conducted online. Colleagues from the British Council attended every single one of our online meetings… and helped us navigate the regulatory processes in Indonesia.
“It was the fastest submission to go through the ministry of education process and we think that’s because from the get-go, British Council was supporting and advising both institutions and were highlighting on multiple occasions to the ministry – that this dual degree partnership was coming through the system so that they were kept informed of progress and of the significance of the proposal.”
A third partner, pharmaceutical industry Combiphar, based in Jakarta, will allow for honours projects to be jointly supervised by Combiphar staff and scientists from Dundee.
“We’re building up the talent pool for those students that will come back to Indonesia and potentially get employed by Combiphar or other pharmaceutical companies,” says Dale.
Something else that has been key to Dundee’s TNE success story is “finding the right partner at the right time” in the university’s journey, as well developing a program that ultimately meets student demand, Dale shares with The PIE.
In addition, the university has recently signed an agreement with the ministry of religious affairs to support staff development too in upskilling from Masters to PhD level across a wide range of disciplines.
“That’s just an example of how UK universities can position themselves and identify that unique proposition for them to come into this market and then still be able to have a share of the enormous opportunity Indonesia presents,” says Xia.
It’s not only British Council that can assist – Xia also encourages potential UK partners to explore opportunities and advice offered by the British Embassy, including colleagues from the Department for Business and Trade.
“We all have different experience and expertise from the market that we can offer to help UK institutions to make the best decision so that they can benefit from our collective insights and lessons learned.”