Academic forums need no permits: Education official

JAKARTA (JP): Academic gatherings under the supervision of a rector need no official permit but the participants should be carefully selected, a senior official said yesterday.

Director General of Higher Education Bambang Soehendro said that participants of academic gatherings should be limited to people with relevant academic backgrounds so that there won't be any misperception about the content.

"Academic discussions can be held inside or outside a campus, for which permits are not required," he said. He added however, that the rector and the student senate should make sure that the speakers and participants are well versed with the subject under discussion.

"This (selection) is important to prevent misunderstanding of the scientific subject being discussed," he said.

As for intelligence officers who often show up at gatherings, Soehendro said they may come as long as they master the subject under discussion.

Noted human rights campaigner Todung Mulya Lubis said Thursday that it is often university administrators themselves who request that permits be obtained when they want to hold a seminar.

The government policy that requires an official permit for every gathering of more than five people came to light again following the increasing cases of banning intellectuals from addressing seminars.

Critics say that the permit policy is no longer relevant because it derives from pre-independence times when colonial administrators tightly controlled the activities of the natives.

Former home affairs minister Rudini pointed out Thursday that the permit policy as stated in the Criminal Code does apply to academic activities.

Meanwhile, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro has said that academic forums apply only in campuses and should be closed to the public.

The discussions are meant only for students and their professors and should not be announced to the public, he said.

Soehendro said that limited scientific discussion may not be published by the mass media in any case. Journalists taking part in the discussions should also be those who excel at the subject.

"If the content of such a discussion is published, the readers who have little background knowledge on the subject will likely misinterpret the message," he said. (anr)