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)