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)