Why Indonesia Needs a Long-Term Vision for Higher Education

Ahmad Tholabi Kharlie
(Professor at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta;
Member of the Higher Education Council,
Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia)

A profound transformation is reshaping the global landscape of higher education. Generative artificial intelligence, quantum engineering, biotechnology, and sustainable innovation are redefining how people learn, work, and build civilization. These changes are unfolding far more rapidly than the higher education policy cycles with which we are familiar.

Amid this turbulence, Indonesia faces a fundamental question: does its higher education system have a sufficiently strategic direction to address the challenges of the next decade? Or is it moving forward without a long-term roadmap capable of safeguarding relevance, competitiveness, and systemic resilience?

This question matters because higher education is the foundation of Indonesia’s journey toward 2030–2045, a period often described as a “golden window” for achieving developed-nation status.

That ambition is reinforced by the Indonesia Education Roadmap 2025–2045 released by Bappenas, which calls for repositioning education toward a digital talent ecosystem, downstream-oriented research, and stronger STEM capacity.

Yet such a leap will be difficult if higher education governance remains administrative, fragmented, and insufficiently visionary. While many countries are redesigning their education systems with adaptive long-term horizons, Indonesia continues to rely heavily on five-year policy cycles that do not always provide a comprehensive national vision.

This underscores the urgent need to reformulate the orientation of higher education in a more systemic and long-term manner.

Structural Weaknesses

Over the past decade, Indonesia’s higher education ecosystem has recorded notable achievements, including campus digitalization, the expansion of autonomous public universities, improved international accreditation, and pedagogical innovation. However, these gains coexist with persistent structural challenges.

First, policy fragmentation remains a defining feature. Higher education development lacks a unified orchestration. Programs such as internationalization, research development, vocational revitalization, digitalization, and institutional transformation often operate in parallel with limited cross-sectoral synergy.

Without a long-term strategic framework, these initiatives tend to become sectoral projects rather than drivers of systemic change. Universities are pushed to chase short-term targets that shift with ministerial priorities, rather than a coherent national strategy.

Second, Indonesia lags in integrating frontier technologies. Although digital adoption has increased, the use of artificial intelligence in curricula, research, and governance remains sporadic. Many institutions are preoccupied with debating AI ethics while failing to redesign future-oriented curricula, establish frontier laboratories, or train faculty in AI-based pedagogy.

As a result, universities risk falling behind industries that are now innovating faster than academic institutions themselves.

Third, the research ecosystem has yet to function as a national innovation engine. Public investment in research remains limited, and university–industry partnerships are inconsistent. Much research ends as publications rather than solutions. Without a strong research ecosystem, universities remain detached from national development needs, and innovation struggles to scale.

Fourth, language literacy and academic mobility have not been elevated to national strategic priorities. Countries with advanced education systems treat language proficiency—both national and global—as a key enabler of mobility, collaboration, and knowledge expansion.

In Indonesia, scientific literacy in Bahasa Indonesia and foreign language competence remains underdeveloped, limiting faculty and student participation in global academic networks.

Fifth, quality disparities among higher education institutions remain wide. Autonomous public universities generally enjoy more robust research ecosystems than regular public universities, religious institutions, or private universities. Funding gaps, infrastructure inequality, and uneven human capital capacity undermine the ability of Indonesia to function as a cohesive and competitive higher education system.

Finally, higher education governance remains heavily administrative. Faculty members and university leaders spend excessive time on reporting and compliance requirements, reducing the energy available for teaching, research, and innovation. Effective governance should minimize administrative burdens and maximize academic productivity.

The Urgency of a New Roadmap

These conditions demand a new national higher education roadmap with a ten-year horizon. This roadmap should serve not merely as a planning document, but as a strategic compass aligning higher education with Indonesia’s 2045 national vision.

It must function as a living document—adaptive and regularly updated in response to technological change and societal needs. Frontier technologies such as generative AI, quantum computing, and synthetic biology are reshaping the nature of work and knowledge. Higher education planning must respond with comparable speed and precision.

A coherent roadmap would clarify institutional roles: the positioning of autonomous universities, pathways for transforming public and religious institutions, the relationship between academic and vocational education, internationalization strategies, and the alignment of research with national priorities. Without such direction, higher education will remain reactive rather than visionary.

Three Pillars of Transformation

The transformation of Indonesian higher education must rest on three mutually reinforcing pillars: future technology, human values, and inclusivity.

Technological integration is the first imperative. AI-driven curriculum development, frontier laboratories in quantum science, bioengineering, and green technology, faculty capacity-building in digital pedagogy, and intelligent campus management systems are no longer optional. Technology must serve as the design framework of the future university, positioning campuses as engines of national talent development.

However, technological progress must not displace human values. Universities must produce graduates who are not only digitally competent but also grounded in integrity, empathy, and public responsibility. Character education must move beyond symbolic gestures toward structured moral development through ethics curricula, leadership practice, and a culture of integrity.

Human values must remain central so that scientific progress does not lose its ethical compass.

The third pillar is inclusivity and academic mobility. Future higher education must support dynamic learning pathways that allow students to move across disciplines, institutions, and borders. Flexible admission routes, alongside stronger support for faculty and student participation in global knowledge networks, are essential. Inclusivity is not only about access but also about enabling every individual to develop to their fullest potential.

Reframing the Role of Universities

With this foundation, Indonesian universities must redefine their roles. First, they must function as centers of national innovation. Research should not stop at publication but translate into solutions for renewable energy, food security, public health, disaster resilience, and digital technology.

Second, universities must act as guardians of public ethics. Campuses are spaces where intellectual morality is shaped and integrity is internalized—an increasingly vital role amid complex ethical challenges in governance and society.

Third, universities must serve as drivers of regional and national development. Stronger links between research, industry, local governments, and communities are essential. Universities must not operate as ivory towers but as active nodes in national development.

Indonesia now stands at a critical crossroads in the future of higher education. Global competition for talent is intensifying, technological change is accelerating, and innovation capacity is becoming a decisive factor of national progress. Without an adaptive long-term roadmap aligned with development priorities, higher education risks losing relevance.

The momentum toward Indonesia Emas 2045 should therefore be seized as an opportunity to redesign higher education in a more visionary, integrated, and sustainable manner. Universities must become true locomotives of national transformation—producing graduates who are excellent, ethical, and ready to lead socio-economic change.

Only with clear and consistent strategic direction can Indonesia ensure that its higher education system evolves beyond administrative institutions into a genuine home of knowledge, a center of innovation, and a foundation for future civilization.

This article was originally published in Media Indonesia on Friday, January 7, 2026.