Hello

[marcus]

Cisca , I just asked my Indonesian wife and she told me that she heard about a mother who graduated from an Indonesian university (under-graduate course) when her daughter was around 30 years old (we guess she was around 50 years old) .

I suggest you to not give up because from what I know , some Indonesians give answer(s) even without any knowledge about the subject in question or with the intention to make it harder (you know why) . Here are some examples :

- This year we wanted to transfer my younger daughter from a private primary school to a Government's primary school , so my wife asked the school officer about the transfer and she told that there was no vacancy . Fortunately one of our neighbor told my wife that she knew the vice-director of the school and so we asked her again about the transfer possibility and to our surprise she quickly said "no problem" (no bribe was offered or requested) . So now my daughter is attending this Government's primary school .

- We wanted to move our second daughter from a private junior high school from one city to another . My daughter's last teacher said it was not possible because she had already finished her second year and so there was only one year left to finish the junior high school . I searched the internet but didn't find a confirmation for that , so we started to search for a private school in our city . End of the story , we succeeded in transferring her , also without bribing anybody (we did not search for a Government's school because we were in a hurry - the school semester was only few days from starting) .

- But there was also a problem that I decided not to take the risk to look for a solution . I went to "Kantor Imigrasi" to change the sponsor of my KITAP/Permanent Residence Permit , according to what was allowed in the Regulation , after a divorce . My request was firstly accepted but later the sector boss rejected it saying my sponsor was a poor person . Because there was no regulation requiring the sponsor to be reasonably rich (now there is such a requirement) , I went to the Regional Immigration Office to confirm , they said I could do what I requested . I returned to Kantor Imigrasi but that boss there was furious because I went to the Regional Office . He told me that my request had to pass through him and it would never get his approval . I gave up .

- In more than 14 years in this Forum I also saw many cases of officers giving information not according to the Government rules , and my Indonesian friend also told me that he experienced many cases of wrong information that he received .

[adindas]

The problem here in Indonesia is that in many cases they are not accountable to whatever they have said. So they could say whatever they want to say even they have not got knowledge of the subject. Not to mention they will provide answer where it will personally be benefiting them directly or indirectly.
In other countries people might sue you for damage due to misleading information that you have provided, especially if you are official in charge.

[cisca sundoro]

I was trying to enroll to a nurse major last month (at the University of Pelita Harapan) and get rejected again. They said can only accept if it's 2 yrs back. If only I screen shot the chats

[marcus]

...If only I screen shot the chats

We believe in what you said , there is no need to prove .

What we are saying is that , in many cases , answers one gets are not reliable . If it is important to you , try to ask the same question to many people at that University .

[cisca sundoro]

Hi Marcus & Adindas.

I've asked the school again and still the same answer. This time I screen shot their answer. How to post a picture here?

[SimonTemplar]

Cisca,

I read that in order to sway people's minds, you have to bribe them. Totally illegal in the States but I hear that is the only way to speed things up over there.

[cisca sundoro]

Hi Simon.

Embarrassing lol. But yes you are right, can do that for most of the thing but unfortunately not for my case. I just really like studying and I can't do it down here. It's very frustrating.

[adindas]

Cisca. There is no need to print screen your answer. There is no good reason not to tell the truth.
In the previous discussion is about the age limit to enter private universities. You might want to ask them about their regulation and about age restriction and or entry criteria from their websites or extract from their academic regulation. But it is not common in Indonesia to challenge such decision, as you could predict where it might just end up wasting your time.

Unless it has been changed recently, generally speaking, a maximum age of 21 years or 3 years since graduating from high school/vocational school/equivalent is only applicable to UG programs of state funded universities. This is due high subscription and state funding limitation. But on the other hand, private universities do not have age limits. But keep in mind they are still within their right to accept who they want to accept especially for highly subscribed program without lifting up fees. Nursing, medicine are few to name This is another statement from an accredited private university regarding the age limit https://www.umn.ac.id/en/is-there-an...see-the-facts/

In Indonesia, in general, there are no binding regulations regarding the minimum or maximum age requirements to start studying for an undergraduate program. Therefore, undergraduate programs are designed to be more flexible so that students can begin studying according to their abilities. However, even though it is not written in government regulations, some universities implement policies regarding age limits. Generally, this applies to state universities, namely a maximum age of 21 years or 3 years since graduating from high school/vocational school/equivalent. On the other hand, private campuses do not have age limits.??

Also just to let you know there are many Indonesian people taking master's / PhD degree or even in extreme cases elementary school in the age of over 50+ or even 55 if they pay by themselves. It is well known among the Indonesian civil servants, legislative candidates to join such program, just to get certificate even they never attend the classes, have no time to study to increase their chance for promotion.
I guess you just need to find another institution in your subject.

[cisca sundoro]

Thank you Adindas. I will keep looking

[marcus]

...Also just to let you know there are many Indonesian people taking master's / PhD degree or even in extreme cases elementary school in the age of over 50+ or even 55 if they pay by themselves. It is well known among the Indonesian civil servants, legislative candidates to join such program, just to get certificate even they never attend the classes, have no time to study to increase their chance for promotion...

Talking about that , in my country civil servants use to get Master Degree and PhD (regardless of the subject , age) in order to get automatic raise in their salaries (I am not sure , but around 25% and 40% more , respectively) .

My Indonesian friend also told me about some similar cases in Indonesia , but not sure if it is true .

[cisca sundoro]

Yes, I know they got some fasilities for higher education but I'm not sure what is the implications to their job. None of my family work for the government.

[adindas]

Talking about that , in my country civil servants use to get Master Degree and PhD (regardless of the subject , age) in order to get automatic raise in their salaries (I am not sure , but around 25% and 40% more , respectively) .
My Indonesian friend also told me about some similar cases in Indonesia , but not sure if it is true .

There are scholarships available from Indonesian government for Civil Lecture especially Lecturer but these are limited and on competitive basis. Also very limited scholarship are available to them to study abroad from the countries which have diplomatic relationship with Indonesia or from Indonesian government themselves. But AFAIK for these foreign scholarships they have an age limit, generally 40yo.

Regarding civil servant enrol to higher education without attending the lecture are well known, mainly happen at private higher education. Generally, it is for the soft subjects such as those social science, politics, history, etc where you get most of the knowledge by following the news. all you need is reading the news regularly, politics. Certainly, noone has the gut to enrol in the subject where your skills will need to be proven publicly such as in STEM subjects such as Medicine, Dentistry, Engineering, Nursing, Science, Math, etc.
This is just recent news, not in the private university but a state university.. Seven professors esign as they have been forced to pass students who are not meeting the criteria.

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20221103171338-20-869182/perkara-7-guru-besar-unhas-mundur-dipaksa-luluskan-mahasiswa

https://www.tribunnews.com/regional/2022/11/04/duduk-perkara-7-profesor-unhas-mengundurkan-diri-karena-diminta-luluskan-mahasiswa

[adindas]

Yes, I know they got some facilities for higher education but I'm not sure what is the implications to their job. None of my family work for the government.

Well if you are already a civil servant, it will have implication for promotion. It is not uncommon in Indonesia, a promotion is linked to education in the job description. Keep in mind they are working as a civil servants, it is uncompetitive environment.

[cisca sundoro]

Lucky them. Unfortunately I'm old and minority, so it's a dead-end for me. I'm looking for the opportunity to take classes overseas. Just a regular student. Not looking for any scholarships. Just got this itch to study again