Wardiman denies accusation of 'ethical decadence'

Wardiman denies accusation of 'ethical decadence'

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro has denied that his ministry is sliding into a state of moral degeneration.

Speaking after the installment of several new high-ranking officials yesterday, Wardiman dismissed the allegations, which were made by legislator J. Riberu last week.

Riberu, a member of the House of Representatives commission overseeing education, said that the education was currently suffering from a "degeneration of work ethics".

"There is no such thing. We are currently developing and always moving forward," Wardiman said.

The Kompas daily quoted Riberu last week as saying that "deviations" and "shortcomings" in Indonesia were mainly caused by the "ethical insensitivity" of individuals in the bureaucracy.

Riberu said that many such people, who lacked "moral and ethical conscience", were also present in the education ministry, an institution which had, he said, a duty to develop, preserve and apply ethical standards.

Wardiman said that critics like Riberu would do well to base their accusations on thorough research.

He added that he did not rule out the possibility of the ministry itself conducting such research.

Riberu's comments coincide with those of a large number of critics who claim that corruption and fraud, which are a well- known public secret in Indonesia, have become a major obstacle for the nation's development programs.

A member of the ruling Golkar party, Riberu said that corruption was rampant in Indonesia, but not because Indonesians lack knowledge, skills or expertise.

"Instead, it is because they lack moral and ethical standards, enabling them, for example, to cheat in project bids, take part in financial corruption and misuse their power," he was quoted by Kompas as saying.

Mahmud Zaki, the ministry's outgoing inspector general, who was replaced yesterday by Harsono, admitted that inefficient budgeting was one of the problems that the ministry had faced during his term of office.

"Inefficient allocation of funds is particularly apparent in the case of school facilities, such as laboratories. Many such facilities are not optimally used, some equipment is damaged and a lot of it doesn't work properly," Zaki said.

These problems, he said, could only be solved by improving the quality of teachers and their commitment towards their vocation.

Apart from Harsono, Wardiman also installed Joetata Hadihardaya as Director of Private Higher Institutions of the Directorate General of Higher Education, replacing Sambas Wirakusumah; and Arjatmo Tjokronegoro as Acting Coordinator for Jakarta's private higher education institutions.

Joetata, a professor at Semarang's Diponegoro University, said that he expected private universities to work hard to gain higher accreditation.

"For its accreditation to be upgraded, a university must improve, not only the education it provides, but also its human resources, community work and research," he said. (pwn)