Islamic students demonstrate

Islamic students demonstrate

SEMARANG, Central Java: About 600 students of the state
Walisongo Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) staged a
demonstration Saturday to protest the government's plan to merge
the school with one in Purwokerto.

The demonstrators said the plan would only pose a major burden
to the Purwokerto's IAIN Kalijogo, which is still far from ideal
as an institution of higher learning.

"We know that in Purwokerto the 1,600 students are served by
29 lecturers," said a spokesman for the demonstrators, Suripto.

He said in the Purwokerto IAIN, the lecturer-student ratio is
1:55, which is worse than that of the Semarang school, which
stands at 1:30. (har)