Angry students set fire to campus facilities

Hundreds of students of an institute in Makassar went on strike and set fire to computers and chairs at their campus Wednesday to vent their anger at the higher education management for failing to provide a new campus as promised.

The Handayani Institute of Computer and Information Management students reportedly threw out their learning facilities from the third floor of their current campus, which the management leases from state-owned Bank BRI.

Mardin, chairman of the student executive body, said the students had asked in vain for an explanation from the institute’s management if they had found a new campus as the contract to rent the BRI building would expire in March next year.

“When we were admitted to the institute, the management promised to build a permanent campus. The pledge has not materialized and our study is now at stake as the management has not found a new building,” Mardin said.

Each regular student pays between Rp 1.2 million (nearly US$132) and Rp 1.7 million per semester, while extension program students pay Rp 2 million each.

The management built two campuses a few years ago, but the project was not completed due to debt problems.

Learning activities were put on standstill from Tuesday due to the students’ strike. Lecturers and management staff were absent when the protest took place.