RECTORS DIVIDED ON SCRAPPING OF EDUCATION LAW

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 3 (ANTARA) - The Constitutional Court (MK) last Wednesday revoked the Law on Education Legal Entity (UUBHP) which has for a long time been decried by many quarters as a means for state universities to commercialize their operations, making it difficult for financially less able students to enjoy academic education.          However certain academic circles questioned the MK ruling, saying it would create new problems as the law was annulled amid preparations made by universities to change their status based on the law.          After all, they said, the idea contained in the law was in line with the central government's decision regarding  regional autonomy programs where educational institutions are given freedom to make their own policies and to empower  themselves.          However, the Law on Education Legal Entity  was revoked by the MK on Wednesday. According to MK Chairman Mafud MD, it was against the Constitution and not legally binding. The law was weak in its juridical aspects, clarity of purpose and harmony with other laws on education.          Forty petitioners  - students, parents, universities, academic associations, teachers and many others - had demanded that the court annul the law, arguing that it had pushed up education fees and prevented most of the people from getting higher  education.          But some see the annulment of the law as a source of  new problems. This is because some universities had been preparing themselves to turn their status into one based on the Government Education Legal Entity (BHPP) as required in the Law on Education Legal Entity (UUBHP).          "A number of universities were preparing to change their status into that of the BHPP in line with the UUBHP, but ironically it is now canceled by the MK," Prof. Sudijono Sastroadtmodjo, rector of Semarang State University (Unnes), said.          He said  the cancellation of the law foiled all preparations that his university  had made, where Unnes, for example, had set itself the target of becoming a BHPP-based university in 2011.          "With the revocation of the law, we are now waiting for the further steps to be taken by  the national education minister. We cannot make further comments about the MK decision,," the Unnes rector said.          In the meantime, Rochmat Wahab, rector of Yogyakarta State University (UNY), said that the cancellation of  Law No 9 / 2009 on Education Legal Entity was questionable.          "The MK ruling is just OK, because it responds to the objections of  certain institutions to the UUBHP, but in academic terms, I am questioning it," Wahab said.          He said that the UUBHP was in line with the central government's regional autonomy programs where educational institutions are given freedom to make their own policies and empower themselves.          With the cancellation of the law, all university policies would  depend on the central government. "But it is often that polices made by the central government are not suitable with the internal need of  universities," he said rejecting the opinion that the UUBHP had led universities to commercialize their services.          The same opinion was also expressed by Denpasar's National Education University Rector Prof. Dr Sri Darma of Bali. He said that the cancellation of the law would create new problems for higher learning institutions which so far had not carried out good governance in their financial management system.          However, for universities which had carried out a good financial management, the scrapping of the law would not pose a problem.          According to Sri Darma, the MK had revoked the law because so far many higher education institutions misunderstood the concept of good governance in  financial management. With the law, they take big tuition fees from students to improve their education quality.          Even though certain academic circles are less receptive of the MK decision, Chairman of the Indonesian Private University Association (APTISI) for Central Java, Prof. Brodjo Sudjono, is of the opinion that the cancellation of the law was a correct step.         "The UUBHP is against the 1945 Constitution, especially with regard to the freedom of association and assembly. The UUBHP requires universities to have a uniform legal entity status," he said.          He said that so far the legal entities of foundations which established private universities in Indonesia varied but with the law, the differing entities had to be changed into a uniform one.          "Unifying the legal status of private universities will reduce the democratization process because with the law it will be easier for the government  to oversee  them," he said.          Therefore, students and youths also welcomed the MK ruling, as reflected in the acceptance of PMII, GMNI and AMPI. PMII and GMNI are university students while the GMII is a youth organization.          "AMPI urges the ministry of education to follow up the MK decision and consolidate universities which have been under the state legal entity status (BHMN)," Hasanuddin, an associate chairman of the AMPI, said.          PMII as one of the initiators for the review of the law, in the meantime, hoped that students would monitor the follow-ups of the law cancellation.          The annulment of the law also was welcomed by legislators. The Indonesian Democratic Party- Struggle (PDIP) faction in parliament said the MK's verdict annulling the Law on Education Legal Entity was a correct decision because it would enable all citizens to have access to education.          "With the cancellation of the law, education at state universities which so far can  only be enjoyed  by financially able students, is now accessible  by all levels of Indonesian citizens," Tubagus Dedi Gumelar, a PDIP member of the House Commission X on education affairs, said.          He said  state universities with state-ownership legal entity (BHMN) managed their own autonomous budget and charged students  very expensive tuition fees so that only financially able students could attend.          This condition was against the 1945 Constitution which gives  all Indonesian citizens the right to pursue education in the country.  "This means that students which have intellectual capability have the right to attend any university in the country regardless of their poor status," he said.          So far, the legal entity status has been applied at four state universities, namely the University of Indonesia (UI), the Bogor  Institute of Agriculture (IPB), the Bandung  Institute of Technology (ITB) and the University of Gajah Mada (UGM).         With the cancellation of the law all, all regulations based on it no longer have legal binding. Thus, the government should introduce new regulations so that the status of students in the four universities would be clear.          "The should make a decision immediately so that the status of the four universities would be clear before they are receiving new students," Tubagus Dedi Gumelar said.     (T.A014/B/HAJM/18:20/a014) 03-04-2010 18:32