State universities' tuition still cheapest: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro denied yesterday that state universities' tuition fees were as expensive as private universities'.

"There is no reason for people to make a fuss about the tuition fees at state universities," the minister told a press conference on this year's college entrance exams at the Salemba campus of University of Indonesia.

Wardiman admitted that there had been annual increases in the tuition fees but said they were still roughly one-fifth of the cost of courses at private universities. He said the annual price rise had not caused the declining number of applications for places at state universities.

The minister said the number of applications had fallen because students were more aware of the many quality private universities.

"Many have also shown a preference for the shorter study periods offered by non-degree institutions, which have sprung up in recent few years," the minister said.

The number of people sitting nationwide university entrance exams dropped 7 percent this year to 348,734, from 375,452 last year. They competed for 64,808 seats in 45 universities this year.

The number of exam participants falls every year, this year's number was the lowest in seven years, down 27.3 percent from 1991's 479,709 participants.

University of Indonesia's rector, M.K. Tadjudin, who accompanied the minister said competition for state university places was still tight.

One participant had to compete with six others for a seat at the University of Indonesia, he said.

Competition was toughest for placements in computer science courses, he said.

"One participant has to beat 100 rivals for a seat in that discipline," Tadjudin said.

But the faculty of economics in social sciences was the most favorite, he said.

The two-day state university entrance exams are the nation's most prestigious exams. They are designed to select outstanding high school graduates throughout the country for entry into 45 state universities across the archipelago.

An employee at the Jakarta test registration center said that most participants wished to be admitted to five state universities.

They are the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, the Bandung Institute of Technology, Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, the Bogor Agriculture Institute and Semarang's Diponegoro University.

The minister watched students follow the first day of testing yesterday at SMU 1 high school on Jalan Budi Oetomo, Central Jakarta. (03)