Indonesia: an uncertain future - Higher Education �� and after? - student situation - Cover Story

The future of a nation lies in the hands of the young. For Indonesia, that is no overstatement. In May 1998, it was the students who caught the world's attention by spearheading the drive to unseat the nearly godlike figure of President Suharto from his more than thirty-two-year presidency. But after the jubilation, the students woke up to find the original problems still there, with the economy collapsing and politics getting murkier by the day.

"What is the next move? Is this what you want?" a street vendor asks a student activist. Yet without a larger-than-life common enemy like the Suharto regime, students have too many wants and too few resources to continue their movement, in the absence of either a nationwide organization or a shared agenda.

For the more radical students from the Jakarta City Forum, a loose gathering of students from about 100 Jakarta universities, a complete dismissal of the parliament and government is in order. They want a so-called Indonesian People's Committee to replace the establishment and set up elections as soon as possible. Why? "Because we don't trust all of the old institutions," yells a student leader.

Watching divergent desires polarize student leaders and interest-led politicians lure student support to their causes, the more down-to-earth students are retreating from the political arena, to regroup and return to their classes. "My students are going back to campus to consolidate while keeping an eye on the new government's moves," says Sudarto, rector of Airlangga University in Surabaya.

But this consolidation is far from a reality. "Spontaneous student unity is close to impossible when there is no political mainstream," says Ismail, a now-apathetic former militant. And while the remaining activists argue over competing agendas, ordinary students have simpler desires. Marijono, a student from Jombang in East Java says: "We do not want to be fooled again, either by the government, by the International Monetary Fund or by self-acclaimed reformists."

He and others like him would prefer to see progress in a field closer to daily life: education. "Educational improvement should not be ignored. It is the way to enhance our quality of life," says Dadang Budiana from the Indonesian Student Association for International Studies.

Less than 10 per cent of the total national budget is allocated to education. Most state university students come from the middle class, which can afford the preparation courses for the rigorous national university entrance exam. Private universities are expensive. Lower-income youths are essentially left out in the cold, without access to higher education. "Poor students will always feel inferior," says Budiana. "To get a scholarship, they must write a letter, approved by the local government, stating they are 'financially incapable'."

Lower tuition fees are a key demand, according to Budiana. "The government should slash the military budget and reallocate funds from superfluous high-tech development for the sake of educating the people."

Zainal, a student from a poor village in East Java, couldn't agree more. "Poor guys like me can't afford to pay the tuition anymore." But even the rich students now are feeling the crunch. The fall of the rupiah has tripled the prices of foreign textbooks. "I can't buy books any longer. They are unbelievably expensive," says Iwan, a student from privately-run Trisakti University.

For Indonesia's politically puzzled and scholastically troubled students, helping overthrow the previous government now seems a lot easier than forging their nation's- and their own-future.

COPYRIGHT 1998 UNESCO
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group