Education Ministry on the Professorship Title Scandal

THE Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology is currently investigating a scandal regarding the conferment of professorship titles. This investigation was initiated due to irregularities in the assessment process of several professors from Lambung Mangkurat University in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

Lukman, Director of Human Resources at the Education Ministry, said this issue involves multiple stakeholders, from professorship candidates to ministry officials. “Everyone is completely honest,” he stated.

Lukman received a Tempo team for an interview at the office of the Directorate-General of Higher Education in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday, May 27. He also provided additional written responses via WhatsApp on several occasions. Excerpts:

We found that there are over a dozen assessors who freely regulate the awarding of professorships at the Ministry of Education. What’s your response?

We have examined 11 assessors who evaluated the proposals for professorship. We have hundreds of assessors or reviewers, and not all of them are involved. We are currently cleaning up and imposing sanctions on those (guilty) assessors.

We obtained data that a lecturer who entered the assessment network could handle 80 prospective professors and partnered with certain lecturers. Isn't that unusual?

It must be admitted that there are weaknesses in the system because it is not yet integrated. Therefore, I will improve it to become a unified system so that monitoring and tracing processes are more transparent. The public will also be involved.

Why do these dozen assessors have such extensive authority and influence?

There may have been negligence, and indeed, it was intentional on the part of that professorship mafia.

We heard stories that Education Ministry officials played roles in the practices of this professorship mafia.

All parties were involved, from university leaders, campus senates, to professorship candidates. Senate recommendations were fabricated. Professors also manufactured scientific works. Based on the facts, fraud also occurred at the central level.

From the information we gathered, professorship candidates who had problems fulfilling the requirements deposited a certain amount of money with the assessor to get approved. How do you respond to that?

We need to ensure and prove that there are indeed transactions between professorship candidates and assessors. This includes information about allegations that assessors act as brokers in publishing scientific papers. We are currently investigating how this game was also played within this institution. If it is real then we will take care of everything.

What was the result of your investigation?

We found evidence of procedural errors occurring systematically. These violations are not only administrative but also substantive. This fraud occurred in many private campuses, not just at Lambung Mangkurat University, which initiated this professorship investigation. The assessors or reviewers apparently did not check for falsification of scientific works by professorship candidates.

Have the actors involved, including senior officials from the Ministry, been punished?

The recommendation letter to revoke of their positions has been signed. They are not entitled to hold the title of professor. Staff members that manipulated the requirements have also been sanctioned with dishonorable discharge. There are other disciplinary sanctions, such as demotion. This applies to everyone involved, not just professors. Everyone is affected, including officials at the central level.

What improvements are you making to prevent this case from recurring?

We have an academic integrity monitoring system accessible online to everyone. The system, called the Indonesian Academic Integrity Platform, is ready but not yet implemented. Anyone can report allegations of academic violations. There are also regulations issued by the minister regarding academic integrity in producing scientific works.