Buku Now or Never: Total Transformation of Higher Education as the Key to Indonesia’s Future – Insight from the United States, South Korea, and China

By 2045, Indonesia will celebrate its centennial of independence—often called Golden Indonesia 2045. The vision is bold: a prosperous nation, a respected player in the global economy, and a society rooted in knowledge. Yet the reality is sobering. Indonesia still lags in the very foundations of long-term progress: higher education, research, and innovation ecosystem. Decades of opportunity have already slipped away, and fewer than twenty years remain before 2045. The window is narrow. The choice is urgent. It is now or never.

This book is both a warning and a blueprint. It draws lessons from South Korea and China, nations that turned themselves into knowledge powerhouses, and from the United States, the archetype of a mature knowledge economy. Set against Indonesia’s stalled progress, these comparisons reveal the peril of growth without direction. Unless a radical shift takes place, the promise of 2045 will remain a mirage.

Based on the author’s three decades of studying knowledge-based economies in the United States and deeply understanding Indonesia’s current and future challenges, the book offers a path forward. Inspired by the Californian and South Korean models, it presents a clear plan: a three-tiered higher education system, world-class research universities, strong teaching institutions, and community colleges that broaden opportunity. It shows how Indonesia can finance brains, reshape culture, and realign institutions to ignite a knowledge revolution.

Penulis: Elwin Tobing

Jumlah Halaman: 333