Wardiman slams media over strikes

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro yesterday blamed extensive media coverage for what he described as the growing "trend" of student strikes.

"With such coverage by the media, especially television, such trends easily spread across the country," he said after opening the 34th meeting of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Tropical Biology here. The four-day meeting is being attended by representatives from nine countries including Malaysia, Brunei and Cambodia.

The ministry has identified a number of unwelcome trends in the field of education, he said, including the yearly tradition of students autographing their friends' shirts with colorful pens as an expression of merriment upon graduating.

"Just wait, maybe tomorrow the students in Surabaya will take their turn in striking," he said. He did not believe that students launch strikes just because they have become more critical.

"No, it's just a trend," he said. "Had they been critical, they wouldn't have voiced their demands at the same time they were holding the strike. People usually express demands before staging a strike."

He condoned the involvement of security officers in handling unruly strikers. "If the strikes disturb security and order, then officers should take action to maintain security. If not, I don't think it's necessary," he said.

Last month, students at three Jakarta state senior high schools refused to go to classes or do any learning activities in protest at a number of issues. Students from one school, for instance, accused their principal of embezzlement, while those from another school staged a strike to demand lower tuition fees. (31)