Higher Education Against Corruption

KOMPAS/Aditya Putra Perdana

Fathur Rokhman

The year 2017 passed with much commotion in handling a number of corruption cases. A Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) sting operation targeting a number of regional heads ended in November with the arrest of the speaker of the legislative body. Such commotion is predicted to continue, because corruption remains an incurable social illness.

This situation should be viewed as an extensive issue of nationalism, not simply a legal matter. Therefore, every element of society – including the higher education community – must engage in self-reflection so that they can contribute more meaningfully in the future.

The higher education community can look at corruption from two different perspectives. First, corruption is a social reality that is studied as a source of knowledge. The patterns, changes and anatomy of corruption are accorded a place as a neutral phenomenon as with other social realities. Studying corruption is part of an effort to comprehend the complex and changing realities of the world.

Second, corruption is a reality that requires intervention because it contradicts the basic value of education. The education community believes that honesty is a fundamental universal value. Corruption is a nasty practice that not only stands against this value, but also poses a threat to the realization of an ideal society.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) recorded Rp 1.83 trillion (US$136.5 million) in state losses due to corruption in the first half of 2017. Losses of such a size constitute a real constraint that may hamper development programs and place the ideals of justice further out of reach. In fact, the education community longs for the realization of a just and prosperous society.

Moreover, Chapman (2002) explains that corruption also causes severe moral bankruptcy. The ideological perception of young people, who see corrupt practices in their daily lives, will become distorted, as they will be led to believe that success is not achieved through hard work, but through bribery and fraud. This condition will weaken the public value system, the very basis of civil society, both in the present and in the future.

Third, beyond these two perspectives, higher education is a public institution that falls under the government bureaucracy. Higher education, like other public institutions, is vulnerable to falling victim to corruption and, at the same time, to becoming the perpetrators of corruption. Therefore, it is very important for higher education to develop a legal course to enable corruption to be removed from Pertiwi, the Indonesian Motherland.

The three perspectives above place higher education in two positions simultaneously: subject and object. As a subject, higher education is a social entity that has the will and the power to realize its will. As an object, higher education is positioned as a small part of the broad and highly complex bureaucratic system. In both these positions, the aspirations of higher education are highly limited by its underlying system.

Moral strength

In Law No. 12/2012 on Higher Education, universities are tasked specifically with implementing the Tri Darma (three pillars of higher education): education, research and community service. However, historically, universities have had a more fundamental role in laying down the values in the life of the nation.

This great task was apparently inherited ever since the first institution was established as a university. Plato\'s Academy, which was founded in 387 BC in Athens, gave birth to thinkers whose ideas evolved into shared values. Its alumni dedicated their knowledge to creating a better society. As a result, the Academy was widely appreciated by the people as a guardian of public morality, along with the clergy.

In an era like today’s, universities are established with numerous variations. In an increasingly complex community, universities of course also experience development and change. However, the public expectation that universities will be moral guardians of the people and the nation has never changed.

In connection with corruption, educational institutions are frequently referred to as the last hope, along with the KPK. This opinion stems from an assumption that legal means alone will not be able to thoroughly root out corruption. Because corruption is increasingly a matter of integrity, the development of noble character is the solution.

Thus far, many universities have given birth to corruption fighters, scholars who earnestly contribute their energy and thinking to fight corruption. There are great figures, to name just a few, such as Mahfud MD and Artidjo Alkostar of the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), Denny Indrayana and Zainal Arifin Mochtar of Gadjah Mada University, and Saldi Isra of the University of Andalas.

However, their individual efforts are not enough to counter the widespread practice of corruption. Therefore, the role of universities in eradicating corruption must be institutionalized, organized and sustainable.

Records show that about 80 percent of corruption offenders are university  graduates. Despite this embarrassing disgrace, there is no need for universities to argue. On the contrary, such records should be used a source of self-reflection so that they can develop good education in the future that every alumnus will become a fighter of corruption.

Regulations and culture

To ensure the birth of anti-corruption alumni, universities must of course ensure that they themselves are anti-corruption. This initiative has been and continues to be applied in two ways: by preparing strict regulations and by building an academic culture of integrity. These two approaches are inseparable, because they are reciprocal and mutually reinforcing.

The Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry has issued regulations to ensure that universities have good governance. The regulations have been adopted by each university with rules for implementation that are appropriate to their characteristics and specific needs. These rules range from financial management to writing scientific papers.

These regulations, either directly or indirectly, have an impact on the creation of a more integrated academic culture. In institutional management, for example, universities act transparently in accordance with the Law on the Openness of Public Information. The utilization of information technology also makes management more efficient.

The two elements should ideally complement each other, thereby giving a real impact on the creation of university graduates that are anti-corruption. Even though the journey toward it seems to be heavy and winding, the endeavor towards that point must be maintained. However small, any effort to attain that destination must be appreciated.

Fathur Rokhman

Rector, Semarang State University