Fewer interested in state colleges

SEMARANG: The number of high school graduates taking part in this year's admission tests for state universities has dropped significantly due to the extensive media reports in June and July about the commercialization of education at the universities, a rector has said.

Rector of Semarang-based Diponegoro University (Undip) Eko Budihardjo said the admission committee in Semarang, comprising of Undip and the Semarang State University, recorded a drop of 15.53 percent in the number of students taking the test, from 19,217 students last year to 16,232 this year.

Speaking at the university's 46th anniversary on Wednesday, Eko said that local admission test committees in other cities had also recorded a similar decline in the number of participants.

The admission test committee in Yogyakarta, for example, noted a drop of some 49 percent, while in Surakarta it was 13 percent, and in Purwokerto 18.33 percent.

"We were shocked by the facts," Eko said.

While media reports said that students who wanted to get a seat at a state university should pay millions or rupiah or even more than Rp 10 million, Eko denied any commercialization of the education in Undip.

He said that new students at Undip should pay an annual tuition fee of Rp 500,000 and another Rp 1 million contribution for the development of the university.

"No additional fee is required," he said.

Undip received 3,304 new students for the 2003/2004 academic year. --JP