Indonesian students in Australia should continue studying

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono urged Indonesian students in Australia to continue their studies and not to become distracted by the deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Don't let the worsening relations between the two countries as a result of the East Timor situation disturb your studies," Juwono said on Friday.

Australia is the second most popular destination for Indonesians studying abroad after the United States.

The number of Indonesian students in Australia has nearly tripled following the violent upheavals here in May 1998.

The Ministry of Education and Culture estimates there are now some 20,000 Indonesians studying in Australia, compared to 8,000 in mid-1997.

Juwono said education and politics were two separate matters, adding that if the Australian government evacuated its nationals studying here, Indonesia would not follow suit.

Australian Embassy spokesman John Milne told The Jakarta Post here on Friday that rumors of a pullout of Australian students in Indonesia were untrue.

There are at least 60 Australians studying in Indonesia, most at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and Muhammadiyah University in Malang, East Java.

The supervisor of Australian students in Yogyakarta, who is also a lecturer from Murdoch University in Australia, David Reeves, confirmed that none of the Australian students had left Indonesia due to the diplomatic crisis and that there were no immediate plans for an evacuation.

"So far, none of my students intend to quit their studies in Yogyakarta," he said.

Reeves also said that in November another group of around 50 Australian students was expected to arrive in Indonesia.

"The rector of Gadjah Mada guaranteed that nothing bad would happen in Yogyakarta and we believed him," he told the Post.

However, we were asked to keep a low profile, he added. (04)