University education expected for all With quota for low-income students

Jakarta, NU Online
A new regulation will require state universities to reserve a minimum of 20 percent of places for students from low-income families, the education minister said on Monday.

“We welcome a new era in which every Indonesian child possessing academic capabilities will have the chance to go to college,” Mohammad Nuh was quoted by the Jakarta Globe as saying.<<>br />
While the minister said he was optimistic state universities would comply with the policy, he acknowledged there had been some initial resistance.

“There were some [university officials] who were resistant to the idea, but I asked them if none of them had ever been poor,” he said. “They only started wearing ties yesterday.”

The number of low-income students at state universities has increased from 0.98 percent of all students enrolled at the universities in 2003 to 3 percent in 2008 and 6 percent in 2009.

But Nuh said students from low-income families were still easily outnumbered by their wealthier peers at state universities.

He said government scholarships were another effort to balance the numbers.

The scholarships, which cover tuition plus a monthly living allowance of Rp 500,000 ($55) to Rp 600,000, are available each year to 20,000 of the brightest university students from low-income families.

Education experts, however, said the new government regulation didn’t go far enough in ensuring access to university for low-income students.

“Why can’t the government regulate that 100 percent of places are open to students from low-income families?” said Winarno Surakhmad, a consultant and former president of the State Education Training Institute.

“This shows that the government is not serious about taking care of future generations by providing everyone equal access to education,” he said. “Twenty percent is not enough to provide true access to education.”

He added that the Constitution stipulated that all citizens should be treated equally and that everyone enjoyed the same right to an education.

“There should be no child left out of education,” he said.

Jumono, the chairman of the Alliance of Parents Concerned About Education, said the regulation was unfair because it specifically stipulated “children possessing academic capabilities.”

“We have to be realistic, not all poor students [wanting to attend university] are bright, but they might have the spirit to continue their studies,” he said.

And because low-income students are the most marginalized, he said he was unsure the new policy would be effective, “especially when there is no one monitoring its implementation.”

But Bedjo Sujanto, rector of the Jakarta State University (UNJ), welcomed the program.

Last year, he added, a quarter of UNJ’s new students were from low-income families and arrived on scholarships.

Nuh also said he was working to ensure more poor students were able to stay in school by expanding the reach of the School Operational Aid (BOS) fund, which is now available for elementary school and junior high school students.

“Currently, it only covers 70 percent [of students’ needs],” Nuh said. “The home affairs minister and I have sent letters to all governors, district heads and mayors to back up the remaining 30 percent to support the School Operational Aid program.”

“Starting in 2012, the BOS subsidy will be upgraded from 70 percent to 100 percent.”

BOS payments will also be made available to high school students in the future, he added. (dar)