Vice Chairman of Indonesian Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) Sultan B Najamudin urged the government to increase operational assistance for state universities (BOPTN) by 50 per cent.
This was conveyed by Sultan when responding to the phenomenon of increasing tuition fees or UKT in many state universities.
The reason is, many state universities (PTN) have increased the amount of UKT up to several times compared to 2023. There are also campuses that change the UKT classification.
“We must admit that the budget allocation for government operational assistance to campuses is still very limited. On the other hand, only a few campuses are incorporated or have full autonomy in managing their assets and finances,” he said through his official statement on Wednesday (22/5).
Sultan revealed that in 2024, the budget allocation for the Directorate General of Higher Education, Research and Technology at the Ministry of Education and Culture was recorded at IDR33.72 trillion.
Of that amount, only Rp6.62 trillion was allocated for operational assistance for state universities (BOPTN).
“The allocation of operational assistance for our state universities is still very small compared to the operational needs of the campus. Meanwhile, the government has a high spirit to increase the capacity of Indonesia’s human resources and human development until 2045,” he said.
According to Sultan, the government must provide a standardised and non-interpretative definition of UKT. UKT, and other operational costs, should be determined by the government.
“There is no need to classify the ability to pay UKT for students. The government through the Ministry of Education and Culture only needs to set a maximum UKT limit and ensure that every high school graduate continues their education to college,” he continued.
“Because there is already an education endowment fund and various types of scholarships for poor students and outstanding students from the government. Human resource development should not be hampered by policies that interfere with student psychology and learning activities,” said the former Bengkulu Deputy Governor.
In addition, Sultan added, the campus must also try to switch its status to a Legal Entity so that it can seek sources of financing from third parties, through cooperation schemes with related businesses, as well as with productive and autonomous campus businesses.
“The drastic increase in tuition fees greatly affects the expenses of middle and lower class families. Tuition fees should be cheaper in the digital era, where the lecture process is often done online,” he concluded.
