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)