House asks state universities to review special admission fee
House asks state universities to review special admission fee
Kurniawan Hari and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bandung
The House of Representatives on Wednesday asked four prominent
state universities to review their policy of charging new
students admission fees far above the normal rate.
The request was extended to rectors of the universities, who
had been summoned to clarify the policy, which has sparked
protests nationwide.
It is the second uproar regarding the issue of education after
the controversy over the national education bill which was passed
on June 12.
Deputy chairman of the House Commission VI on education Anwar
Arifin, who presides over the hearing, suggested that the
University of Indonesia (UI) in Jakarta, Gadjah Mada University
(UGM) in Yogyakarta, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and
Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) in West Java find another
system which was not so discriminative.
"We understand there are limited funds available to finance
the universities, but please find another way," Anwar said.
The higher education institutions set their admission fees at
between Rp 5 million (US$609) and Rp 150 million, arguing that
they needed funds to finance the universities after the
government cut its subsidy. The universities have been granted a
legal status that allows them to raise their own funds.
ITB Rector Kusmayanto Kadiman told the legislators the
institute was providing a subsidy of between Rp 9 million and Rp
10 million for each student per year.
Kusmayanto said that ideally a student should pay Rp 18
million per year.
"That's why ITB has opened a special enrollment for students
who are ready to pay between Rp 45 million and Rp 150 million,"
he added. Students are normally selected to attend state
universities through a national test where only the top-ranking
students are admitted.
He said the money collected from the special admission program
would be spent to help other underprivileged students.
UI Rector Usman Chatib Warsa revealed that the university
needed more money as its operational costs had increased to Rp
367 billion for 2003. The increase was a result of the change in
the university's status.
Usman said the government was responsible for 35 percent of
the budget.
UI plans to allocate only 13 percent of its seats through the
special admissions program.
The education ministry's director general for higher education
Indra Djati Sidi, who was also present in the hearing, said the
universities had the right to determine the admission and tuition
fees due to their independent status.
Indra said an audit council had been set up in each of the
universities to monitor and evaluate the use of the fees.
Meanwhile, a group of students from UI, ITB, and IPB met
legislators after the hearing to reject the commercial
orientation of the universities.
In Bandung, hundreds of ITB students held a second rally in as
many days to protest the special admission fee.
Rally coordinator Ahmad Mustofa said the policy will restrict
the chances of students from middle and lower class people to
study in ITB.
"The admission fee is only affordable for rich people, what
about those who cannot afford to pay that amount?" Ahmad said in
the rally.
A total of 296 students have entered the institute through the
program after going through a selection process. From them, ITB
managed to raise some Rp 25.3 billion.
A minor incident occurred during the protest as one of the
students, Sawung, burned his own hand while setting fire to an
effigy of the ITB rector.