Gov’t Cancels Single Tuition Fees Rise

Minister for Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim gives a press statement after meeting with President Joko Widodo at Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Monday (05/27). (Photo by: ANTARA/Yashinta Difa)

Minister for Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim has announced his decision to cancel the increase in single tuition fees after considering suggestions from the public on the implementation of UKT for 2024/2025 period and coordination with state universities, including Legal-Entity State Universities (PTN-BH).

“Thank you for the constructive advice given by various parties. I do listen to the aspirations of the students, families, and the public. Last week, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology coordinated again with leaders of universities to discuss the cancelation of the increase in single tuition fees, and alhamdulillah, everything has run well. I have just had a meeting with Mr. President, and he agreed to cancel the increase in the fees. In the near future, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology will re-evaluate single tuition fees proposals coming from all state universities,” the Minister said after meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (05/27).

“I had a meeting with Mr. President to discuss various things in the education sector, including single tuition fees. I have proposed some approaches to address the issues faced by the students. On the implementation of the Ministerial Regulation, Directorate General of Higher Education, Research and Technology will announce the technical details,” the Minister added.

For the record, Regulation of Minister for Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Number 2 of 2024 on Operational Cost Unit Standards of Higher Education (SSBOPT) was issued as the basis of the increase in the State Budget for State Universities and Legal-Entity State Universities .

SSBOPT adjustment, he added, has also considered the fact that learning process highly needs technology use and that changes occur in the world of work which highly relies on technology. Meanwhile, SSBOPT has not been updated yet since 2019.

In this regard, the Minister encouraged universities to provide relevant learning activities to the students, adding that the Ministerial Regulation also puts emphasis on two main things in formulating the single tuition fees, namely the principle of just and principle of inclusivity.

Earlier, misconceptions emerged in the public. The Ministerial Regulation only applies to new students and it was possible that state universities were confused when including some students in single tuition feess group which is not relevant to their economy because the students gave inaccurate data.

There are also several public universities that set low single tuition fees and have not been adjusted yet for over five years, causing an extreme increase in the fees.

There was also a misconception that the highest fees group applies to students in general, while in general, only 3.7 percent of new students that were placed in the highest single tuition fees group (Bureau of Cooperation and Public Relation, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology) (AW/EP)