Students come face to face with crisis

The countdown to the new school year is underway with high school graduates busy preparing to get into their favorite universities. But unlike in previous years, in this time of crisis the university students to-be have to be talented enough to tackle not just the enrollment tests but also the burgeoning financial problems. The Jakarta Post reporters Emmy Fitri, Imanuddin, K. Basrie and Riyadi report on their efforts.

JAKARTA (JP): Nurul Arfa, 18, was on the way out of the new Bina Nusantara Training and Recruitment Center complex on Jl. Rawa Belong, Sukabumi Utara, in West Jakarta.

Dressed in her former SMA (high school) uniform, the girl looked pale. Her white shirt was wet from her sweat.

She was alone in the midst of a crowd of happy-looking youths.

"My name was not among those listed as scholarship recipients," she said Tuesday.

She was not even named among the students to-be who would receive 20 percent discounts for the Rp 1.8 million (US$125) tuition fees for the forthcoming academic year.

"It means that I have no other choice now except asking for money from my mother to pay the fees," Nurul, the only daughter and eldest of three fatherless children, said.

According to the teenager, her mother and brothers had agreed to spend a certain amount of money for her education in a bid to pave the path for her to work so she can earn money to support her family.

"We know it's hard to find jobs these days, but we pray to Allah every day hoping that He will give me good fortune," she said.

But for Nurul's poor family, the money needed for her one-year course at Bina Nusantara's school of secretary and information is too much.

"What I need during such a worsening financial crisis is just a speedy but useful course for my future," she added.

"Hopefully, after getting a job for one or two years, I will return to campus to continue my study."

Nurul is not alone in carefully selecting her higher education during this time of hardship.

"I have registered for a one-year course at two academies (in the West Java capital of Bandung) for different subjects: banking and computer graphics," said Lius Waluyo, who has just completed senior high school in his hometown in Malang, East Java.

"But after browsing around at dozens of universities, academies and colleges here in Jakarta, I have now changed my mind and decided to take English and Japanese language courses here," he said.

Lius said he had spent a lot of money and time choosing the proper school as he observed that his chances of getting a job have become very slim due to the country's prolonged economic and political turmoil.

"By learning foreign languages, I believe that I can easily find temporary work at embassies or foreign firms which have not been affected by the crisis," he said.

Although being seriously hit by the poor economic situation, only a few universities have decided to increase tuition fees.

Many others, led by state universities, have set their fees at last year's rates in order to lure students.

"I'm aware and can understand if private universities consequently hike their tuition fees for survival," Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono commented Thursday.

For example, the academy management of AMI, ASMI and STIE "Kampus Ungu" in Pulo Mas, East Jakarta, have increased tuition fees from Rp 20,000 (US$1.33) to Rp 25,000 per subject per student.

"The hike is a must," said Abraham L, a spokesman for the management.

"We can no longer pay our lecturers and other administrative staff the same amount we did last year because today the prices of goods are intolerable," he said.

According to Abraham, the number of applicants to the three academies has dropped 50 percent compared with the previous year.

To accommodate the problems caused by the economic crisis, some institutions have introduced schemes to help students pay the fees in installments.

"The students can pay the fees for each semester (six months) in installments," said Borobudur University spokesman Mastino.

The university's tuition fees range from Rp 1,9 million to Rp 3,6 million per year per student.

The institutions which decided not to hike their fees have had to cut salaries and ask staff to economize on the use of electricity, papers and markers.

"Lucky for us, none of our 50 staff here complained about the policy," director Joko Sasangko of Akademi Ursula said.

Mariani, an executive of LM Patra, commented: "We're afraid students won't come to us if we hike our tuition fees although we're struggling hard to survive in these hard times."

"But we hope what we do is a good deed to help the youths," she said.

However, many universities and colleges are claiming that the number of applicants remains the same as last year.

"So far there has been no significant drop in the number of people enrolling in our university," said spokesman G. Tambunan for the 45-year-old Indonesia Christian University (UKI) in Cawang, East Jakarta.

But, he added, it's too early to announce the final analysis as the enrollment of new students does not close until the end of August.

The headaches for the university students to-be do not end there.

Their parents or foster parents also have to face other grim realities: the soaring prices of books and the significant increases in accommodation rents.

Major book publisher PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, for instance, hiked its prices as early as February by between 10 percent and 15 percent.

But many book traders have said publishers have since raised their prices by between 60 percent and 80 percent.

The prices of many imported books at bookstores in many cities have more than doubled in the last year.

"I don't know how to tell my parents in Kalimantan about the book prices here because we thought books here were much cheaper than in my hometown," Basuri said in Yogyakarta yesterday.

He has just passed the enrollment test for talented students at the famous Gadjah Mada University.

"Even the photocopying services have become too expensive here," he said.

And, what do the parents say?

Rusmalina, a mother of two sons living in Klender subdistrict in East Jakarta, said she and her husband had put all their efforts into providing higher education for their children despite the prolonged economic crisis.

"I cannot let my children live without proper knowledge and skills," she said. (team)