Aceh students demand free tuition<\/p>\n
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Syiah Kuala University students protested on the
\nBanda Aceh campus on Thursday to demand that their tuition be
\nwaived and that the rector resign for attempting to force them to
\npay tuition beginning on Feb. 14.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Subhan, vice president of the Unsyiah Students Big
\nFamily association, told The Jakarta Post some 500 students held
\nthe protest in response to a circular from Rector Abdi Abdul
\nWahab requiring the students to re-register and pay their tuition
\nstarting on Feb. 14.<\/p>\n
\"Many students were victims of the (tsunami) disaster and many
\nof them are still living in shelters after losing their homes.
\nHow can the rector not see (their suffering) and issue a
\nregulation requiring them to re-register and pay their tuition on
\ntime? If we don't pay, we might not be able to study this
\nsemester,\" Muhammad said.<\/p>\n
The students, he said, want their tuition waived this semester
\nand are demanding the rector step down for his failure to
\nrecognize the students' suffering.<\/p>\n
\"We (students) demand the replacement of the Unsyiah rector.
\nFind another person who understands the students' situation,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The protest started at 10 in the morning and lasted until
\nabout 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
\"I am now live under Lamnyo bridge because there's nowhere
\nelse to live. I came to Banda Aceh from Sigli because I have to
\nre-register. I wonder how the rector can ignore our suffering,\"
\nsaid Usman, a 24-year-old student in the university's School of
\nLaw.<\/p>\n
Students are required to pay Rp 450,000 (US$50) every semester
\nin tuition, a huge amount for those students who lost everything
\nin the tsunami.<\/p>\n
\"If we didn't have to pay tuition, we could use the money to
\nbuy a bed or to find another boarding house. I only have the
\nclothes that I am wearing now. All of my books and my bed were
\nlost in the tsunami,\" Usman said.<\/p>\n
Rector Abdi Abdul Wahab was not at the university during the
\nprotest.<\/p>\n
The rector's deputy of student affairs, Azhar Puteh, met with
\nthe protesting students and said the university would make
\nexceptions for students affected by the tsunami.<\/p>\n
He said students affected by the disaster had to fill in a
\nform to have their tuition waived. Those students not affected by
\nthe tsunami were still required to pay tuition.<\/p>\n
According to data from the university, of its 23,000 students,
\n9,000 of them lost their houses or relatives in the Dec. 26
\ntsunami. There is no available data on the number of students who
\ndied in the disaster.<\/p>\n
\"The policy is very reasonable. We hope the students not
\naffected pay their tuition, considering the high operational
\ncosts of the campus,\" he said. \"I hope the students understand.\"<\/p>\n
He said the university's operations costs would be about Rp
\n5.6 billion this semester.<\/p>",
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