Navy suffers lack of applicants

JAKARTA: With just nine days remaining before the closing of applications for its new school year, the Navy Academy has only registered 1,000 high school graduates.

Secretary to Navy spokesperson Col. Fikri S. Guciano said that in the past few years the number of applicants had reached 4,000.

Registration for new recruits will close on April 12.

"We are still finding out why the number of applicants has been so low. It could be because we have set the standards too high, but we don't know yet," Fikri said. The Navy, he added, had not yet decided whether to extend the deadline.

He said it was impossible to relax the requirements, particularly on levels of physical fitness.

Applicants are restricted to high school graduates aged between 18 and 22 years old on Aug. 6, 2002. They must have achieved a minimum state final exam score of 41 for those majoring in physics and 45 for social sciences. The minimum score for those graduating this year has not yet been decided. -- Antara