JAKARTA - The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) responded to student concerns who were busy raising the hashtag #MendikbudDicariMahasiswa on social media. Students demanded the Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim to reduce the single tuition fee (UKT) during the COVID-19 period.
Director General of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) Nizam stated that the Ministry of Education and Culture has opened a number of options for reducing tuition fees.
Nizam said, the chancellor of state universities was asked to make a policy to postpone UKT payments, facilitate UKT payment installments, provide a reduction in UKT, and provide financial assistance to those who are entitled.
"All submission mechanisms and decisions from the agreement of the State Higher Education Rectors' Council are regulated by each PTN," said Nizam in a written statement, Wednesday, June 3.
To get UKT relief, students can submit an application to the leadership of PTN according to the applicable procedures in each PTN.
Nizam ensured that no higher education institution raised UKT fees during the outbreak of the corona virus. In addition, decisions related to UKT should not cause students to drop out of college.
According to the report received by the Ministry of Education and Culture, if there is a PTN that increases the UKT, the decision will be taken before the pandemic period and applied to new students according to the economic capacity of their parents.
"This policy is expected not to interfere with the operation of the organization or learning in higher education and various supporting activities," said Nizam.
Furthermore, to ease the burden on students affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, the government facilitated the provision of assistance such as the Indonesia Smart Card (KIP) for College. KIP Lectures are for PTN and PTS students.
"This year, the government has allocated KIP Lectures for 400 thousand students, three times more than last year," he said.
For information, the hashtag #MendikbudDicariMahasiswa is echoed by the Indonesian Student Executive Board (BEM SI). They demanded that the government provide relaxation in tuition fees.
They admitted that they were annoyed because they had submitted an invitation to the BEM SI hearing to Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Anwar on the 2nd May National Education Day (Hardiknas), but were ignored.
"Our demands to the Minister of Education and Culture include exemption or relaxation of tuition fees for the impact of implementing learning from home and the inaccessibility of various campus facilities," said the Head of BEM SI Remi Hastian.
In addition, Remi asked the government to understand that they are experiencing difficulties in learning activities. This is because the full UKT payment obligation is deemed unfair for students because lectures are conducted at home and do not use campus facilities.
"The large cost of internet quota as a substitute for online lectures which consumes internet quota, and providing logistical assistance to students affected by COVID-19 who are isolated around campus," said Remi.
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