Aceh students find scholastic help

Sari P. Setiogi and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Yogyakarta

For university students in Aceh, the tsunami disaster did not only take away the lives of their families, but also their future, as they might have to give up their studies.

Banda Aceh's Syah Kuala State University (Unsyah), for example, was severely damaged after the massive earthquake and tidal waves struck on Dec. 26. Classes and all other scholastic activities have been suspended indefinitely.

Meanwhile, other Acehnese students studying outside the province may not be able to continue their studies because of the financial impact of the disaster.

The public relations officer of the University of Indonesia in Depok, Farida Haryoko, told The Jakarta Post that the institute had 70 students from Aceh, 30 of who had most likely lost their parents -- perhaps their entire extended families -- in the disaster.

"We are still gathering information on our students (from Aceh). Last week, we flew 10 Acehnese students to their hometowns so they could try and find out what happened to their families," she said.

The national university has decided to waive tuition for those Acehnese students who had lost their parents.

"We are also discussing the possibility of providing them with living allowances," said Farida.

Meanwhile, the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) is considering the possibility of accepting agriculture students from Unsyah.

IPB Second Vice Rector Herry Suhardiyanto learned after visiting Aceh that about 18 lecturers of Unsyah's Department of Agriculture were among the missing.

However, he said IPB would not be able to accept all Unsyah students. "We can only help those students who are majoring in subjects related to agriculture," said Herry.

IPB will also waive tuition and other fees for Acehnese students whose parents were either killed or in refugee camps, as well as provide a Rp 250,000 (US$28) monthly allowance until they graduate. In addition, the institute will provide Rp 500,000 in bereavement money to each student who lost family, and Rp 3 million to the families of IPB students who were killed.

To accommodate Unsyah students, the IPB and other universities in Bogor are working to provide them rooms in boarding houses or to identify lecturers and foster parents who would take in students.

Sebelas Maret University (UNS) in Surakarta, Central Java, has also decided to waive tuition and fees for its 17 Acehnese students, said UNS rector M. Syamsulhadi.

Separately, the Yogyakarta administration has distributed Rp 1.22 billion in support of the 1,500 Acehnese students who were studying at local universities.