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Trisakti Foundation opposes state takeover of its educational institutions
In a press conference on Friday, Trisakti Foundation head Anak Agung Gde Agung said one of the requirements for such a takeover was the assent of the target institutions, which he said they would not grant.
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Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim attends a working meeting with members of the House of Representatives on May 21, 2024, in Senayan, Jakarta. The meeting focused on state universities’ financial management and a controversy over soaring tuition fees. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
T
he Trisakti Foundation, led by professor and former minister Anak Agung Gde Agung, has objected to government efforts nationalize six private higher educational institutions under its umbrella, including Trisakti University, saying the state lacks the legal authority to do so.
In a press conference on Friday, Agung said one of the requirements for such a takeover was the assent of the target institutions, which he said they would not grant.
“Trisakti Foundation and the five [other] educational institutions firmly state that we are not willing, not interested and not in need of the government’s assistance [through the nationalization of the institutions],” Agung avowed, adding that the government’s move could be seen as an attempt to confiscate the foundation’s assets.
The dispute between the Trisakti Foundation and the state began when the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim issued a 2022 ministerial decision appointing government representatives as members of the Trisakti Foundation.
The government claimed the foundation was plagued by internal conflict and that the only way to save the institutions was by turning them into State Higher Education Legal Entities (PTN-BH), state universities with a higher degree of financial and structural autonomy than those classed as Public Service State Universities (PTN-BLH) or Working Unit State Universities (PTN-Satker).
Agung and some of his colleagues filed a lawsuit against the ministerial regulation with the Jakarta State Administrative Court, which eventually ruled in favor of the foundation.
The Jakarta State Administrative High Court has also upheld the lower court’s decision, and the Supreme Court is currently adjudicating the case.
