Govt to save students

Govt to save students

JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to provide subsidized loans
to students at both state and private universities to enable them
to complete their studies, a Ministry of Education and Culture
official said.

"It would be a waste if students who have made it to the sixth
semester are forced to quit their studies," Joetata Hadihardaja,
the ministry's director of private universities, said on Friday.

Procedures to obtain the loans will be announced soon, Joetata
said. More than 2,000 university students in Indonesia have
discontinued their studies in the past eight months because they
cannot support themselves financially or even afford to pay their
tuition fees.

State and private universities are also under strong pressure
to raise their fees in view of the soaring prices but the
government has appealed to them to delay the increase as long as
they can. (09)