Military of Indonesia Seeks Help from Top Universities

David Jardine
In an attempt to boost their professionalism, Indonesia's sometimes notorious armed forces - the TNI - have agreed to cooperate with the Ministry of National Education. The ministry will direct TNI to top state universities that it hopes will aid the military in achieving its aims.
Sceptics have pointed out the TNI has yet to be taken to account for the late 1990s killings of demonstrating university students in Jakarta and the disappearance of some 14 activists at the hands of the Army Special Forces, Kopassus.
Colonel Guntur Wahyudi, a spokesman for the military, said the planned co-operation with the national education ministry would be part of a TNI drive "to be more professional and innovative". "It is the ministry that will direct us to universities that fit our needs," Wahyudi said.
Under the plan, some university lecturers from top state institutions will teach at the Indonesian Military Staff and Command College in West Java. Among the areas Wahyudi has pinpointed are management skills, technology and human rights.
Given the abuses for which the TNI is known, the latter reference can either be seen as a breakthrough or a cynical ploy. Whether inclusion of human rights on the proposed scheme of co-operation brings about an improvement in the TNI's abysmal rights record remains to be seen. It most certainly poses a challenge to the academics charged with teaching the programme.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0104 06 Desember 2009