Over 300,000 miss out on state university seats

JAKARTA (JP): There was laughter at the results of the state university entrance exams Saturday -- but few of the youngsters were laughing for joy, for few had been accepted by the state universities.

Only a couple of the laughing youngsters at the Senayan Sports Stadium in Central Jakarta had secured one of the 63,753 prized seats available. There were 33,376 seats for basic science courses and 30,377 seats for humanities.

"Stop looking at that paper, you won't find it even if you stare for a year!" one of the merry young men told his friend.

The taunting man, Tommy, had failed like over 300,000 other youngsters: 375,452 people had sat the national entrance tests.

His friend Tengku Rahman, who was still holding the Suara Karya newspaper which contained the test results, had sat the tests three consecutive times, the maximum number of examinations allowed.

Tengku, who lives in Depok, laughed, but moments later he revealed his confusion.

He said his father, aged around 50, was ill and could no longer work. After graduating from high school in 1994, Tengku has had incidental jobs on various committees.

"There is no way I can apply for entry to a private school," he said. Private colleges are much more expensive than state universities.

Tengku did not take any of the scores of brochures distributed by people advertising private institutions.

He and Tommy said that the best they could hope for was a course in computing or other skills.

One person, who was distributing brochures for courses "which guaranteed jobs", said that a two-year course for a business administration degree cost Rp 12 million.

The brochure from the institute Lembaga Pendidikan dan Pengembangan Profesi Indonesia boasts its relations with several large national and international companies.

Chairun, who lives in Tebet, South Jakarta, sighed when he found out that he had also failed. After graduating from high school, Chairun had fortunately secured a place at a well-known accounting college, Sekolah Tinggi Akuntansi Negara (STAN).

The college has a program to recruit students to train in offices for eight months instead of paying tuition fees.

But Chairun was still unhappy. "I had looked forward to being accepted by the University of Indonesia," he said.

"I have to work to help my pensioned parents and my three younger siblings, but this is not allowed at STAN," he said.

Some of the youngsters tore up the newspapers containing the list of accepted students, and many brochures for private institutions littered the ground.

Soesmalijah Soewondo, a psychologist and test committee member, said that she could not yet comment on the test scores.

She did say that university and college staff would have to work much harder with this year's new recruits because many of them had graduated with just passable scores.

"They will need a lot of guidance and counseling," she said. Higher education institutions must do this to improve the quality of their recruits.

Agus, who had been accepted, said it was his second go at the tests. "I chose the Bandung Technology Institute as my first choice, but I am very thankful that I have been accepted by the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia," he said.

Agus said that, unlike his friends, he had not been able to afford to attend private classes which prepared students for the state tests.

"I only practiced at home with my brother's homework," he said: "Funny, my brother did not pass the exams. Maybe he will have to try again like I did."

Agus and others said they had hoped to see their results on the private TV channel TPI, which were scheduled at 00:00 yesterday, but they had not known that special remote controls were needed. (anr)