Wed, 08 Aug 2001

Education 'should be priority in Irian'

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): When Irian Jaya eventually receives its special autonomy status, it will have to focus on education to improve human resources, an education expert says.

Education in Irian Jaya, where a large proportion of its population lives in outlying areas, has suffered from neglect.

Frans Alexander Wospakrik, rector of the Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, said on Monday that the provincial administration should raise its education budget from 10 percent to 20 percent of its revenue, financed by the exploitation of its natural resources.

Twenty percent of the budget, or about Rp 1.5 trillion, is needed to intensify education and training programs when Irian Jaya becomes autonomous in 10 years time," Wospakrik said in a meeting with the House of Representatives' special committee for the Papua autonomy bill.

He reckoned that the special autonomy would be counterproductive and create new problems for local people if the development of human resources continued to be neglected.

"Of around 2.5 million Papuan (native Irian) people, only 10 percent have elementary and high school educational backgrounds and only one percent are college graduates. The majority of the people live according to their traditional culture in isolated areas throughout the province," he said.

Irian Jaya has lagged far behind other provinces in human resources development. There has been concern that the eastern- most province will not be able catch up with other provinces if education remains low on the government's priority.

Wospakrik called on the government to build more elementary and high schools in remote areas and develop the existing universities.

Irian Jaya has two state universities -- one in Jayapura and the other in Manokwari, and more than 20 private higher-learning institutes, which offer programs only in social sciences.

Cenderawasih University, established in 1960, has yet to open medical, mining or farming schools -- skills that are highly in demand in the natural resources-rich territory.

"The university, which is almost 40 years old, has produced only 11,000 graduates in the social sciences and only 60 percent of those are Papuan," he said.

Financial problems have precluded the sending of its graduates to take up postgraduate or PhD programs in other provinces or overseas, and the carrying out of its community development program in remote areas in the province.

Wospakrik pointed out that autonomy would not only give the Irian administration a freer hand to develop the province but also restore people's trust in the spirit of the unitary state of Indonesia.

Native Irianese grouped in the Free Papua Movement have been fighting for an independent state. Wospakrik said that Irianese had suffered injustice in all aspects of life.

"The special autonomy status is expected to empower the people so that they will actively participate in development programs to improve their social welfare," Wospakrik said. (rms)