University enrollment should be restricted, says observer

University enrollment should be restricted, says observer

JAKARTA (JP): To help cut down on unemployment, education
observer J. Drost suggested that university enrollment should be
limited to highly qualified high school graduates only.

"With such restrictions, our graduates will become highly
qualified. It will also help to reduce the number of unemployed
in this country," J. Drost told The Jakarta Post recently.

Recent data shows that the number of unemployed in this
country is a staggering 37 million.

Those who do not make it into university, Drost said, can go
to vocational school.

"Therefore the government should pay more attention to
vocational education," he added.

Drost also pointed out the importance of an educational system
for students with varying levels of scholastic ability.

"That is a very important matter that has been left untouched.
It is aimed at optimizing students' ability," he said.

However education observer Mochtar Buchori said that
university should be for everyone as the country still lacks
qualified manpower and human resources.

"It is up to us to choose whether university is aimed at only
producing elites and intellectuals or not," he told the Post.

"But under our country's conditions, I think we have to be
realistic. We need to produce graduates who will also hold lower
positions in government departments or technical workers for
example. So, university should be for everyone. Of course, they
have to get through a selection process first," he added.

Similar with Drost, Mochtar also emphasized the importance of
schools for different aptitudes.

"But we have to design the program properly. The existing
model school for highly intelligent students are snobbish," he
said.

The graduates of such schools, he added, are snobs who
purposively exclude themselves from society. (hdn)