Indonesia’s parliament voted on Wednesday to refashion the country’s public universities into independent legal entities or corporations, a move that might help attract foreign universities but that was met with loud protests by students who complained that autonomy would commercialize education and cause tuition to skyrocket, The Jakarta Post reported.

The government defended the new law, noting that it requires the state to still cover half the overhead of all public universities. The remaining half will be covered by tuition and by universities’ fund raising.

Student protesters both inside and outside the parliament building denounced the law. But the Ministry of Education argued that, under the new system, universities would be free to develop their own resources and areas of specialization in order to become “world class.”

Indonesia has one of the worst higher-education systems in Southeast Asia, with spending on education lagging far behind its neighbors. Less than 12 percent of Indonesians go on to university after high school, compared with 22 percent in Thailand.

The Indonesian government hopes the new law will also attract more foreign universities to the country, a move that will provide competition and help spur lagging institutions to improve. It will also encourage Indonesia’s brightest students to stay home rather leaving to study abroad.

Foreign universities were allowed into Indonesia under the 2003 Education Law, but they have been able only to offer joint programs with Indonesian universities. Last year a presidential regulation opened up the education sector to limited foreign investment.

Local universities have complained they will have a difficult time competing with foreign-owned ones because students will believe they offer a much higher quality of education. —Martha Ann Overland