ONLY 2.4 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people are able to enjoy tertiary education. This figure puts us well below Malaysia, Singapore or even the Philippines. That was yesterday's statistics. What about tomorrow? The answer depends largely on an even more serious question: Are we getting poorer or are we getting richer?

While we were still holding the low 2.4-percent record, parents would mull over—not choose—to which educatio