'Universities must offer more technological science'

BEKASI, West Java (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said Indonesian universities offer too much social studies and not enough programs on technology and natural sciences.

During the induction ceremony of Prof. M. Dawam Rahardjo as the new rector of the "45" Islamic University (Unisma) on Saturday, Wardiman said that 67 percent of state universities and 76 percent of private universities offered social studies.

The remaining 33 percent of state universities and 24 percent private universities provided programs on natural sciences and technology. There are 51 state universities and 1,122 private universities in Indonesia.

Wardiman said the government is considering reducing the number of social studies programs and adding more natural sciences and technology courses.

He called on administrators of both private and state-run universities to design their curriculum in accordance with their own needs. He said that the universities also needed to improve their programs on economic sciences so that they could produce graduates with better skills, who would be able to help the country face increasingly stiff global competition.

"It's a fact that the quality of Indonesian workers is poorer than that of neighboring countries," he said.

Wardiman explained that because natural resources were being rapidly depleted while human needs were continuing to grow, global competition would sharpen discrepancies between underdeveloped countries and those nations that had mastered science and technology.

"Only by developing human resources and mastering science and technology can economic superiority be achieved," said Wardiman.

Saturday's ceremony was also attended by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas and former minister of religious affairs who now chairs of National Commission on Human Rights Munawir Sjadzali. (kod)