Resignations to harm Satya Wacana
Resignations to harm Satya Wacana
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman
Djojonegoro has expressed concern over the mass resignation of
lecturers from the trouble-laden Satya Wacana Christian
University in Salatiga, Central Java.
Wardiman said yesterday that the incident may disrupt classes
and harm the private university's standing in the academic
community.
After sending off a team of naturalists to Maluku and
Sulawesi, Wardiman said he had not received any news of the
number of teachers who resigned in a show of solidarity for
expelled scholar Arief Budiman.
"Unless there are new teachers to replace them, this will
surely affect the quality of this school," he said.
Fifty staff lecturers claim to have submitted their
resignations in the latest incident of three years of university
tension.
However, the university's rector, JOI Ihalau, said only 20
have resigned, not 50 as reported.
The protesting lecturers belong to a "pro-democracy group"
which has spent three years fighting the appointment of Ihalau as
rector. The most outspoken of the group was sociologist Arief
Budiman, who was then dismissed by Ihalau for allegedly ignoring
several disciplinary warnings.
Following a riot on campus between students and administrators
last September, many from the group were suspended and had their
salaries cut by 20 percent.
A truce, brokered by the foundation that owns the college and
prominent Protestant leaders, was signed in November in which
both sides agreed to work to a satisfactory settlement.
However, the lecturers chose to resign, saying they could not
accept the university's terms for returning to work.
Director of Private Higher Education Joetata Hadihardaja also
expressed his dismay with the development and the effect it may
have on the university's accreditation level.
"The ministry will have to review its accreditation of the
university," he said.
Satya Wacana, one of the country's most prestigious private
universities, is known for its prominent scholars whose columns
and critiques often fill local publications.
The expedition launched yesterday by Wardiman is a five-month
voyage on a traditional sailing boat retracing the route of the
19th century English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace when he
visited the archipelago. He spent eight years in eastern
Indonesia, from 1854 to 1862, observing the region's wildlife.
The team will be led by explorer-cum-filmmaker Tim Severin and
consist of an environmentalist, a naturalist, an educational
programmer, a photographer and an artist.
Attending the launching ceremony were Minister of Environment
Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, and Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy of the
United States.
The expedition's results will be shared with and studied in
primary and secondary schools in Indonesia, Britain and the
United States. (31)