Justice Manahan MP Sitompul speaking at a seminar at the Christian Institute (IAKN) in Tarutung, North Tapanuli to discuss the Constitutional Court’s role in supporting Independent Learning-Independent Campus in higher education, Friday (10/27/2023). Photo by MKRI/MMA.

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TAPANULI (MKRI) — Constitutional Justice Manahan M.P. Sitompul discussed the constitutional aspects of the right to education in relation to the implementation of Kampus Merdeka (Independent Campus) at the Christian Institute (IAKN), Tarutung, North Tapanuli, North Sumatra Province, Friday, October 27, 2023 at a seminar on “The role of the Constitutional Court in Supporting the Merdeka Belajar-Kampus Merdeka Program in Higher Education Institutions.”

The seminar was opened by vice rector Elisamark Sitopu, who welcomed Justice Manahan, who hailed from Tarutung, to enlighten students about the latest developments in state administration, especially citizens’ rights to education and the implementation of Kampus Merdeka (Independent Campus).

Starting off his presentation, Justice Manahan said that he was very proud to be able to deliver the lecture in his birthplace. “This is my last moment before retiring, to give a public lecture in my birthplace,” he said in front of the IAKN Tarutung academia.

Before discussing the implementation of Kampus Merdeka, he talked about the history of constitutional amendment, the birth of the Constitutional Court, and the Constitutional Court’s authority and role. “Since its establishment, the Constitutional Court was not only designated to guard the Constitution—as the supreme law of the land—but also to guard Pancasila as the state ideology,” said the alum of the University of North Sulawesi (USU).

Furthermore, he explained that the guarantee of education is regulated in Article 31 paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of the 1945 Constitution, especially paragraph (1), which states that every citizen has the right to education. “So the state has guaranteed the right of every citizen to receive education and of course the state has also budgeted education funds in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution,” he explained. He also explained the actual meaning of Merdeka Belajar-Kampus Merdeka (Independent Learning-Independent Campus), which serves to give freedom and autonomy to educational institutions, and freedom from the bureaucracy, where lecturers are freed from convoluted bureaucracy and students are given the freedom to choose the fields they are interested in.

“This is the point of Kampus Merdeka as stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 3 of 2020 on National Higher Education Standards. How this policy is implemented in each educational institution needs to be observed,” he said.

Justice Manahan also explained the Constitutional Court’s decision related to higher education autonomy—No. 103/PUU-X/2012—which states that in the implementation of higher education, academic autonomy is closely related to non-academic autonomy. “In that decision and several other decisions on the same legal issue, the Court has emphasized that universities have autonomy both related to academic and non-academic matters,” he revealed.

Furthermore, he explained that the priority of higher education autonomy is highly related to the purpose of higher education, that is, higher education autonomy is an absolute condition (conditio sine qua non) that must exist so that universities can achieve their educational goals to find, disseminate, and uphold the truth.

Constitution Campus

Apart from discussing the autonomy of universities, Justice Manahan also explained that the Constitutional Court also takes part in providing knowledge and improving the understanding of the Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and the citizens’ constitutional rights. It collaborates with various universities/high schools both public and private, associations, and communities to organize webinars, public lectures, and book reviews. “So the Constitutional Court can actually be a constitution campus. It is very open to cooperation with universities. Currently there are 50 [partner] universities. This is very beneficial for the universities, for example students can take part in internships, final project research, various competitions in the field of law and also long-distance hearings,” said the former Medan high court judge.

Justice Manahan said that as the guardian of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is also responsible for improving the public’s understanding of the values of the Constitution, which come from the core values of Pancasila. It has also inaugurated three villages as constitution villages: Galesong in Takalar Regency, South Sulawesi; Bangbang in Bangli Regency, Bali; and Nagari Pasia Laweh in Agam Regency, West Sumatra. He added that the Court is also active internationally as a founder and member of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) and the Judicial Conference of Constitutional and Supreme Courts/Councils of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (J-OIC), as well as member of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ). In the question-and-answer session, a number of seminar participants discussed the Constitutional Court’s role in protecting the citizens’ constitutional rights, especially in education.

Author       : MMA
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Tahlitha Laela/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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