Wardiman blasted for plan to regulate private colleges
Wardiman blasted for plan to regulate private colleges
JAKARTA (JP): House members yesterday criticized Minister of
Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro for his plan to
regulate the management of private universities.
They said a new decree now being drafted gives the government
too much power to interfere in the internal affairs of the
universities.
Abdul Choliq Murod from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
and Umroh Muchfudhoh from the United Development Party (PPP)
during a hearing with Wardiman cautioned that the plan should be
well thought through before it is implemented.
"It should be announced to the public in detail to prevent any
disadvantages on their part," said Umroh.
"Private universities need government support but they have to
maintain their independence too," Choliq added.
A draft of the decree which has been circulating in public
has sparked criticism from university administrators.
Wardiman made the draft available to the public to encourage
discourse before he finalizes the regulation.
Yesterday, he defended the decree's objective which is to
protect students who pay large sums of money to study at private
universities.
The decree would provide universities with more information on
the current supply and demand market of the country's labor
force, thus coinciding with the government's "link and match"
program which prevents an oversupply of graduates originating
from a particular field.
Wardiman said the decree would also improve the quality of
private universities, which outnumber state universities by 1,100
to 49.
In the past year, a number of leading private universities
have experienced internal problems, mostly over the selection of
rectors, often at the expense of the students. The decree, if
passed, would allow for government intervention.
Wardiman said the decree, which is still in the making, would
continue to involve public input including from BM-PTSI, the
forum of private universities.
The forum last month hailed the government's plan, saying that
after in-depth studies, it found no indications of the
government's interference in the universities' internal affairs.
BM-PTSI Chairman Moeslim Tahir said the decree intends to set
the parameters for national education and "that's entirely the
right of the government."
In praise of the move, he acknowledged that this is the first
time that the government has invited the forum to discuss a
planned decree.
Five-day school
The hearing also discussed try-outs of the five-day school
week and possibilities of its implementation in the future.
Z.A. Achmady, Director General for Elementary and Middle
Education, said the government would not push schools to
participate in the try-out programs.
Each school has the last word on whether or not it could
implement the five-day week.
"I understand we still face many technical problems and we are
not accustomed to such a system, but we will go on with the try-
outs," he said.
Among the problems, he said, is the fact that many schools,
due to a lack of school buildings, have to run under morning and
afternoon shifts.
Extra expenses for lunch money and possibly transportation, as
well as seeking appropriate activities for the extra weekday,
were other problems which had to be resolved.
"In the future, we may end up with several schools having
five-day school weeks and others with six-day weeks," he pointed
out.(pwn)