UI confers postgraduate degrees on 772 students

JAKARTA (JP): University of Indonesia rector Asman Boedisantoso on Saturday congratulated 772 students recently graduated from the university's professional, specialty, masters and doctoral programs.

"We hope that we can contribute qualified human resources to the country to face the increasingly connected world," he said in the ceremony at the university campus in Depok, West Java.

He said the university would continue to improve its graduates to enable them to better fulfill market needs.

He admitted that in the past the graduates were drilled with many theories, but lacked the commercial skills demanded by the market.

"It seems that graduates could not be 'sold' to the market," he said.

To improve the quality of graduates, Asman underlined the importance of English competence.

"We will require our students to have English certificates with certain scores," he said.

Among the those graduating on Saturday were Nuriyah Abdurrahman Wahid, wife of Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization chairman Abdurrahman Wahid.

Nuriyah, who sat in her wheelchair during the ceremony, graduated from the masters program of the Center of Women's Studies with a thesis entitled: "Young marriage and women's reproductive health in Islamic boarding schools".

Wahid, who is popularly known as Gus Dur, and his two daughters were also present at the ceremony.

At the ceremony, which also commemorated the university's 49th anniversary on Feb. 2, Asman urged the graduates to pay attention to the next general election.

"As academicians, we should not be politically blind. We should study what is happening to this country and try our best to make the country better," he said.

He also called on people to ensure that the general election be held in an honest, fair and peaceful manner. (jun)