Poor students still find place in top universities

Poor students still find place in top universities

Sri Wahyuni and Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Jakarta

Rumiyati, a graduate of state high school SMUN 3 in Bantul,
Yogyakarta, felt fortunate to have passed the entrance exam at
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) through a special program.

But she was startled to learn that the university was
demanding Rp 5 million (US$609) in admission fees when she re-
registered with the selection committee.

"That was quite a large sum of money and I never imagined that
I would ever hold that much in my hands," said Rumiyati, a
daughter of a traditional tempe (soybean cake) maker in Banyon
hamlet, Bantul regency, which is south of Yogyakarta.

Fully aware that failing to pay the fee could dash her
childhood dream of studying at university, she nonetheless wrote
a zero in the fee's column on the reregistration form.

She felt her dream of helping her family break the cycle of
poverty slip away from her until she received a letter stating
that she was admitted to the School of Agricultural Engineering
and the university had decided to exempt her from the high
charge.

Rumiyati is one of 384 students who have been admitted to the
university without having to pay the whopping fee. Four thousand
students are recruited through a selection test held in April,
which has sparked criticism for charging the students far beyond
the normal rate.

There will be 4,000 more seats on offer for the new academic
year during the national admission tests, which will be conducted
simultaneously across the country on Tuesday and Wednesday. A
total of 82,950 openings will be offered by 48 state
universities.

For UGM, the rule of the game for the next batch of students
seeking entry to the university will be the same: They will have
to have at least Rp 5 million for the admission fee, excluding
tuition, which will also make the total rise.

UGM, the Jakarta-based University of Indonesia, the Bandung
Institute of Technology and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture
introduced the new charge after they obtained a new status as a
legal entity. The government cut its subsidies to them due to the
new status.

The House of Representatives have asked the universities to
slash the fee to an affordable amount.

UGM rector Sofian Effendi maintained that the policy would
take effect, but would not apply to students from poor families.
He said those students had only to show documents from the
subdistrict head stating that their parents could not afford to
pay the fee, their parents' pay stubs, tax reports and
electricity bills.

So far, Sofian said, of some 4,000 new students chosen from
the previous entrance exams, only 26 percent paid more than Rp 5
million and 51 percent paid exactly Rp 5 million.

The highest admission fee reportedly stands at Rp 20 million,
although there was a student whose parents were willing to pay Rp
250 million. "We did not accept this student as he failed the
entrance exam in the first place," Sofian said.

For Franklin Sinanu, 18, who has just graduated from Jakarta's
most popular high school, SMUN 8 in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta,
his dreams of entering UI's medical school could be completely
shattered if he fails to pass the national test on Tuesday and
Wednesday.

The school will offer seats to those students who are willing
to pay Rp 200 million in advance.

Franklin, said, however, that he would prefer studying
medicine at the private Indonesian Christian University (UKI),
where his six years of study will cost his parents about Rp 80
million.

He said some of his friends from well-off families had taken
the special offer from UI, even though they had already been
accepted at other universities, simply because they did not want
to leave Jakarta.