More than 76,000 pass state university entrance test

JAKARTA (JP): For nearly half-a-million high school graduates, Monday was a day that would shape the rest of their lives.

For the 76,273 lucky ones there was much-awaited relief, but for the rest it meant facing up to the reality that they would not immediately experience campus life in one of the 45 state-run universities and institutes.

It was a tough competition to get there as every successful student had to beat another six for a place in the state university of their choice, particularly the popular ones in Java.

But this year's announcement of the results of the state university entrance examination (UMPTN) on Monday was not filled with the outward displays of emotion usually associated with the event.

At most academic centers the mood was generally bland. There were no mass gatherings of youths, and few of the public outbursts of euphoria and despair that had characterized the event in previous years.

High-tech played its part in this. Most students in the capital found out their academic fate in a supplement inserted into the morning newspapers.

Others simply used the Internet where they could check on the official website http://www.umptn.or.id whether their names were among the lucky few who had been accepted.

This year only 16.6 percent out of the 458,351 who took the entrance exams were accepted. But their chances this year were actually better than in 2000.

There was an additional 2,733 places available in this year's allotment, mainly due to the coming on stream of new faculties, while the number of high-school graduates taking the entrance examination was also fewer than the 473,402 registered last year.

The slightly improved chances of success were certainly not enough to boost the students' hopes.

Most students from well-off families had submitted backup applications to private universities, which obviously charge the students much more in fees, in case they failed the state entrance examination.

The unlucky ones may now decide to take short-term courses which claim to help them in the job market, or they may decide to sit the examination again next year.

Ima, a high school graduate from Muntilan, Central Java, came all the way to Jakarta to check the entrance examination results for herself at Jakarta University (UNJ) in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

Unfortunately, she did not find her name on the list.

She vowed that she would resit the exam again next year to fulfill her dream of entering the Chinese Literature Department in the University of Indonesia's School of Letters.

"I didn't register for any private university ... I don't have any backup ... I will enter any school, anything, to pass the year before I take the exam again," she told The Jakarta Post disconsolately.

Like Ima, Ayu from Semarang, Central Java, was also very disappointed. She said she had not expected to fail the examination.

"I don't know why. I'm quite good at school. I applied for Environmental Engineering at Diponegoro University in my hometown. I don't have any backup. What should I do?" she said.

Both of them found out their fate after receiving their free copies of the results, which were distributed from 7 a.m. onwards.

Free copies were provided at every state university campus, but in Surabaya some were being sold at between Rp 2,000 and Rp 5,000 per copy.

On the University of Indonesia campus, agents from various private universities stood in line handing out promotional brochures touting their respective institutions to every student who came in or out to receive the examination results.

Albert Agustinus was a picture of joy as he arrived at the campus knowing that in a few months he would be a proud UI student.

"I will now cancel my enrollment in the (private) Tarumanegara University," he said.

He said that he had enrolled in the university in West Jakarta just in case he didn't pass the entrance test for UI.

Arief Budiman, a South Jakarta SMU (senior high school) 108 graduate, said he was rather disappointed that he had not been accepted by the School of Law in Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, which was his first choice.

"But I'm still grateful for the fact that I've been accepted by Padjajaran University in Bandung," he said, adding that he would be taking library science.

Most universities impose their own requirements for the enrollment of new students.

Rector of Jenderal Soedirman University Rubiyanto Misman revealed that the Purwokerto-based university would implement procedures to ensure that new students did not use drugs.

"If it is shown that the students are involved in drugs, they will be expelled immediately," he told journalists. (06/44/45/nur/bby)