State universities' tuition still cheapest: Minister
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)