Agreement reached, order restored at UI

JAKARTA (JP): The administrator of the adult education program of the University of Indonesia's School of Social and Political Sciences signed an agreement with student representatives yesterday, ending a bitter dispute over the administration of the scheme.

The agreement was signed by the school's dean, M. Budhyatna, chairman of the student senate, Selamat Nurdin, and head of the students' representative assembly, Adni Rahman.

"This agreement is intended to restore order to this campus," said Budhyatna, who conceded that the program had a lot of weaknesses.

The agreement follows a series of student protests over the program, whose participants have not been subject to the rigorous entrance test administered to all other students of the university.

The school's adult education program allowed new high school graduates to enter the program without any enrollment test. Usually any extension program in a state university accepts workers only and requires applicants to pass an entrance test.

The program is intended only for people who have been in the work force for some time or for students who have graduated from a lower-level educational institution with at least 110 credits.

Under the agreement, the administrator is obliged to apologize to various parties, including students who have been affected by the poor management of the program.

The agreement stipulates that, commencing next year, the school will only accept applicants who have obtained 110 credits in their previous studies and have passed an entrance exam. It will also limit the number of the new students in line the availability of teachers, classes and other academic facilities.

The agreement is silent in relation to the students enrolled in the program this year, who did not sit any entrance test. About 350 of the 625 students registered in the program are fresh high school graduates.

Budhyatna said the students already admitted to the program would be permitted to complete it.

"They will stay," he said. "It has happened. Don't cry over spilt milk."

The student signatories to the agreement did not call for the expulsion of the program's current students. "It would only bring further disgrace on this school," commented Selamat. (06)