Universities' new status

Universities' new status

From Republika

The status change of several state tertiary institutions into
legal entities (BHMN) entails the condition that they should
become more independent in providing education and enhancing its
quality.

Such independence includes the exploration of resources to
finance their educational operation and upgrading educational
quality. Some BHMN universities have opened a new channel for
undergraduates by imposing high admission and tuition fees.

For the 2003-2004 academic year, the University of Indonesia
announced that it will accept a maximum of 20 percent of incoming
students through this expensive channel, with a guarantee that
they will not reduce the quota for regular enrollment.

Some of the requirements for the channel go beyond passing
grades, scoring a seven-point grade average and declaring their
financial capability to pay for lectures without government
subsidies.

This information means that the new policy aims at increasing
the capacity of the respective departments. However, transparency
and evaluation are required for this purpose.

WAHYU WIDIYANTORO

Jakarta