Abstract
The restoration of democracy in Indonesia and the Philippines ushered major reforms in many aspects of governance including in the higher education sector. One of which is the increase in the autonomy of public higher education institutions. Despite similar trajectories and circumstances, being both presidential democracies and middle-income countries, there has been no systematic comparison of the higher education systems of both the Philippines and Indonesia. Drawing from major legislations passed in both countries affecting higher education governance, a comparison of the systems is made along three dimensions: organizational, staffing, academic and financial autonomies. Following the definitions used by the European Universities Association, organization autonomy refers to “academic and administrative structures, leadership and governance”. Staffing autonomy refers to “ability to recruit independently, promote and develop academic and non-academic staff” while academic autonomy includes determination of “study fields, student numbers, student selection as well as the structure and content of degrees”. Financial autonomy is about “the ability to raise funds, own buildings, borrow money and set tuition fees.” While there had been significant gains in the sector, policy changes like free higher education in the Philippines potentially threatens autonomy of public higher education institutions. This means that even under a relatively democratic set-up the higher education sector needs to keep on pushing for greater autonomy in performing its crucial role for the country.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Educational Organization and Leadership
KEYWORDS
HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE, INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES, AUTONOMY
