Students protest new tuition fee in C. Java

Students of Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) in Purwokerto, Central Java, filed a complaint to the university's dean, Edy Yuwono, to protest the tuition fees hike.

The students, who got together under the Save Soedirman group, demanded an explanation from Edy on the new tuition fees system, called UKT, saying that the system was against the ruling issued by the Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI).

"We reject the UKT and urge the dean to abort the system. On Dec. 17, 2012, the dean signed an agreement that stated he would include students in every UKT discussion [but he failed to do so]," Save Soedirman's coordinator Munirah Dinayati told reporters on Thursday.

She said that Unsoed had also applied fees apart from the tuition fee. Edy refused to comment on the issue, while Unsoed's spokeswoman Endang Istianti said the university would consider the students' complaint before taking necessary steps.