Dispensation for Acehnese students

YOGYAKARTA: New student candidates from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province will receive a special dispensation in the upcoming 2003/2004 academic year, the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) rector, Sofian Effendi, said on Monday.

"We'll give them a longer period to register themselves as they might suffer from both transportation and financial difficulties due to the war," he explained.

Sofian said that new student candidates would be given from June 9 to June 16 to register themselves, but those coming from restive provinces would be allowed to register before the academic year begins in early September.

"Students from Aceh also have the right to apply for scholarships through the UGM Peduli program," he said.

Out of the 76,000 students who applied for UGM, only 4,696 of them passed the entrance selection requirements. These requirements applied to the five different selection schemes accepted by the university, including the UGM's own entrance test, which was held on April 22 and April 23. Some 1,500 other candidates will be admitted through the national entrance test to be held next month. UGM plans to accept some 6,000 new students this academic year. -- JP