Increase in tuition fee? No way: Students<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The party is over. State universities are now
\nhaving to work hard seeking ways to generate more funds in
\nanticipation of the government's plan to reduce subsidies.
\nRaising tuition fees is one possibility, but it may be the most
\nunpopular one and trigger unrest among students.<\/p>\n
A number of students from different state universities talked
\nto The Jakarta Post, expressing their objection to the plan.<\/p>\n
Fathurrahman, 19, a law school student at Airlangga University
\nin Surabaya, son of a retired employee of a sugar factory in
\nKediri, 125 kilometers southwest of the city:<\/p>\n
I hope that the national education minister does not kill off
\nstudents like me by hiking tuition fees.<\/p>\n
My father, who has a monthly pension of Rp 250,000, only sends
\nme Rp 400,000 for the cost of one semester's tuition. I work for
\na printing company to support my life in Surabaya. What should I
\ndo if tuition fees are increased?<\/p>\n
Ali Maksum, from the school of forestry at Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity (UGM), Yogyakarta:<\/p>\n
When I enrolled at the university I was charged Rp 250,000 in
\ntuition fees plus Rp 50,000 in laboratory work fees for one
\nsemester.<\/p>\n
My university cannot be compared to universities like the
\nUniversity of Indonesia and Bandung Institute of Technology. Most
\nUGM students are from poor families living in rural areas, and
\nthe university must maintain its schemes to exempt poor students
\nfrom tuition fees.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Saichu Anwar, a student in the archeology department
\nat Udayana University in Jimbaran, Bali, whose father was a
\nschool teacher:<\/p>\n
Udayana charges Rp 250,000 per semester for the social science
\nschool and Rp 300,000 per semester for the exact science school.<\/p>\n
People have been made dizzy by the prolonged economic crisis.
\nStudents from poor families like me will be severely hit by
\ntuition fee hikes.<\/p>\n
Maya, 22, currently studying journalism at Bandung's
\nPadjadjaran University:<\/p>\n
I am afraid only students from well-off families would be able
\nafford to go to universities if tuition fees increase and
\nincrease. What would happen to our friends, whose parents are
\npoor farmers or civil servants?<\/p>\n
Djoko Sadewo, a 10th semester student at Soedirman
\nUniversity's social and political science school, in Purwokerto,
\nCentral Java, son of an employee at the Purwokerto regency
\noffice:<\/p>\n
The university's tuition fees are now Rp 250,000 per semester.<\/p>\n
Students will just want to finish their studies as soon as
\nthey can because of the (rising) cost. This will be unhealthy as
\nthey will have to ignore the quality of their work.<\/p>\n
We will be up in arms against any tuition fee hike.<\/p>\n
Latif Bimo Y, another Soedirman University student, whose
\nmother owns a small streetside eating house in Pekalongan,
\nCentral Java:<\/p>\n
Tuition fee hikes will be OK as a last resort. But the quality
\nof education must be improved. The hike would become a problem if
\nthe facilities and the quality of education did not improve.<\/p>\n
Ali Maksum from Gadjah Mada University:<\/p>\n
The lecturers must improve their quality in line with the hike
\nin tuition fees.<\/p>\n
Ariyanti Halimah, 20, of the exact science school of State
\nUniversity of Surabaya, who pays Rp 350,000 in tuition fees for
\none semester:<\/p>\n
We will stage street demos against any tuition fee increases.<\/p>\n
The government has pledged to improve the development of human
\nresources. But financial aid for education is going to be
\nreduced. With the current tuition fees we are left behind other
\ncountries in human resource development.<\/p>\n
Dudik, a forestry student at Bogor Institute of Agriculture
\n(IPB):<\/p>\n
Most IPB students are from low-income families.<\/p>\n
I get a monthly scholarship of Rp 100,000 from the Tanabe
\nFoundation in Japan.<\/p>\n
I am very lucky. My father is a junior high school teacher in
\nCirebon. Frankly speaking, he could not afford for me to study
\n(without the scholarship).<\/p>\n
Ageung Hatma Mahardika, 20, a student in the geology school at
\nBandung Institute of Technology:<\/p>\n
The government should have added to the education budget.<\/p>\n
I am not from a rich family. Regardless of my personal
\nobjections, I cannot understand why the government has abundant
\nmoney to inject into troubled banks, but not into education.
\n(team)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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