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)