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.