Private universities

Private universities

From Kompas

Only about 10 to 15 percent of senior high school graduates
can be admitted to government universities annually. Some of the
remaining graduates may go to private universities, many study
abroad and still others find employment or just do nothing.

It is a hard fact for students as the first year at a private
university costs Rp 4 million to Rp 12 million, compared to Rp
450,000 to Rp 800,000 for government universities (Kompas, Aug.
26, 1994).

We realize that the private universities and the government go
hand in hand to educate people which will in turn enhance the
quality of the human resources. But how can the common people
afford a private university education? It is also the practice of
the private university to take in as many as 2,000 students in
one faculty, despite the fact that it has several faculties. We
hope that the university will give greater emphasis to quality
rather than quantity. The money collected from the students
should not be appropriated only for constructing new buildings
but also for enhancing the quality of the lecturers by giving
them the opportunity to take postgraduate programs or courses.

I also would like the Ministry of Education and Culture to
apply the real estate system, in which every developer is
required to build simple houses and very simple houses. In the
case of university education, the private universities should be
required to receive bright students and charge them only one 10th
the cost paid by ordinary students. By doing so the people with
marginal funds can also benefit from the existence of the private
universities.

The private universities should not become too commercialized
and neglect their responsibility to educate the people.

F. PUDYANTO S.

Jakarta