UI adult program has a lot of weaknesses: Dean

UI adult program has a lot of weaknesses: Dean

JAKARTA (JP) : Dean of the University of Indonesia's School of
Social and Political Sciences M. Budhyatna admitted yesterday
that the adult education program, opened by his school this year,
has a lot of weaknesses.

"I'm not making any excuses. I admit the program has
weaknesses," he said. "I realize that the enrollment was a little
out of control."

He made the statements during a dialog with students, who have
been protesting against the program since last week.

The school's adult education program has been the target of a
series of protests after it administered a much simpler entrance
requirement, allowing new high school graduates to enter the
program without any enrollment tests. Usually any extension
program in a state university accepts workers only and requires
applicants to pass an entrance test first.

The poor procedure sparked anger among regular undergraduate
students, who are required to pass a highly competitive national
university exam to gain admission. On Sept. 5 students started a
camp strike.

The program's procedure was also questioned by officials of
the school's sociology department and social welfare department.
Both departments sent the dean strong letters of protest.

Budhyatna said that the poor procedure was caused mainly by
the fact that it was prepared in a hurry.

The dialog between the school's representatives and the
protesting students went on behind closed doors. Reporters and
students, who were not members of the school's student body, were
forbidden from entering the tightly guarded meeting room.

"The dean has broken his promise. This should be an open forum
not a closed one," Nono Marijono, one of the ringmasters of the
student demonstration, protested.

"We still demand an open forum," he said as he showed The
Jakarta Post a petition signed by 180 students disappointed by
the dialog's secrecy.

The results of the dialog turned out to be satisfying to some
students. "I'm satisfied that the dean principally accepts our
demands," Selamat Nurdin, the chairman of the school's student
senate, said. "Our target was to make him say that he was wrong
and correct the program's mistakes."

Budhyatna confirmed that he has accepted the students' seven
demands, including an open apology from the dean to the academic
society of the school, a promise that the regular academic
programs would not be affected by the extension program and only
enrollment of applicants who have obtain 110 credits from
previous schooling and pass a qualification test. (06)