More than 500 spots left vacant at state universities

More than 500 spots left vacant at state universities

JAKARTA (JP): More than 500 of 64,000 openings in state
universities will be vacant due to a lack of qualified
candidates, results from state college entrance exams showed
Saturday.

Chief of the entrance exam committee Soesmaliah Soewondo told
Antara the places were at universities outside of Java.

Senayan sports stadium in Jakarta, the traditional site of
results announcement, seemed quieter than previous years. Most
students were calm and impassive at news of the results.

Hundreds of armed soldiers surrounded the stadium to prevent
any disturbances involving the soccer fans currently in town for
the national soccer championship.

Official of private universities were also present to promote
their programs to students rejected by state universities.

Soesmaliah said she did not know who dispatched the security
forces to the stadium, but added she had been apprehensive about
possible disturbance.

The director of the private Teknos Institute, Bagia Mulyadi,
urged changes in the exam system and release of answer sheets
following exams.

"The committee needs to show transparency in its testing
because it does not give evaluations of test recipients who
passed or failed," said Bagia, who was recently elected to the
House of Representatives.

He called for more options for students in choosing future
major concentrations in university, from the current two to five
or 10. "Test takers will receive fair treatment with the option
of more majors. The most qualified will then be accepted at a
state university."

He said a student with only two choices in majors who selected
medicine at the University of Indonesia and engineering at the
Bandung Institute of Technology could be rejected with a score of
750 as the lowest score for both schools is 800.

In Medan, North Sumatra University announced admissions of
3,483 new students.

Chairman of the local entrance exam committee, Darmono, said
that 1,754 students were bachelor degree candidates, 503
polytechnic students and 1,226 students would follow Diploma III,
three-year nondegree programs.

Darmono said 1,318 students were admitted to the local
Teachers' Education and Training Institute (IKIP) through state
university entrance tests and 361 from the achievement program.

Science students admitted to North Sumatra University ranked
eighth nationally while social sciences students ranked seventh,
he said.

In Palembang, Antara reported Sriwijaya University was quiet
as test results were announced, with a few students observing the
bulletin board.

Deputy committee member of local entrance testing, Awi Aman,
hailed the media's coverage since exam announcements were began
three years ago.

Awi said 8,720 students took the test this year compared to
11,000 last year. He said the decline was due to a smaller
number of students from other provinces sitting exams in the
city.

"Apparently, they realized the tests in Palembang were no
different than their own provinces," he said. (01)