Protests On The Increase In UKT Are Rising, PTN Is Asked To Dare To Be Transparent

Photo caption: Unsoed student demonstration rejects the increase in UKT (Doc Unsoed News / Putri Sabhrina)

Chairman of Commission X DPR RI, Syaiful Huda asked state universities (PTN) to be transparent following widespread protests against the amount of Single Lecture Money (UKT) in a number of areas.

The campus must openly convey the unit cost determining the amount of UKT and the classification of the student UKT class to the public. The Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology, must also have the courage to vettify the proposed amount of UKT submitted by PTN if it is considered burdensome for students," he said, Sunday, May 5, 2024.

As is known, students who are members of the Gajah Mada University Advocacy Forum (UGM) took action on National Education Day. In the action held by Balairung UGM, they conveyed the results of a poll that stated that 70 percent of UGM students objected to paying UKT. In addition, similar actions were also carried out by Unsoed students who protested the increase in UKT for new students.

Huda admitted that PTN and State Universities with Legal Entities (PTN-BH) are entitled to increase UKT for students. However, there are provisions that must be obeyed by PTN and PTN-BH before setting an increase in student UKT.

"There are indicators that affect the UKT amount, such as education levels, types of study fields, campus locations, to educational support facilities needed. But above all, the determination of UKT must consider the affordability of public education costs from all circles," he explained.

This politician from the PKB faction stated that the UKT polemic at Unsoed Purwokerto and at UGM is proof that the cost of higher education is still a big problem for the majority of students in Indonesia. Therefore, it is natural that until now the gross participation rate of higher education in Indonesia is still relatively low compared to neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, or even Thailand.

He emphasized that education stakeholders must examine further the factors that make the cost of higher education in Indonesia very large and how the state's financial capacity is in dealing with it.

"Currently, our education budget is more than Rp600 trillion. Is the amount of the budget the management is correct or does it really need to sharpen the priority budget allocation so that it can reduce the UKT costs of our students," said Huda.