Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo summoned Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim to the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday to discuss various education-related issues.

"We will discuss several education issues and report to the President," the founder of the ride-hailing app Go-Jek said when asked by reporters about his visit to the Palace.

Nadiem confirmed that the discussion with the President would include the issue of single tuition fees (UKT), which has been a public concern.

In the past month, protests against the increase in tuition fees have erupted at various state universities such as Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) in Purwokerto, Sumatera Utara University (USU) in Medan, and Universitas Riau (Unri) in Riau. These hikes range from 50 percent to 300 percent.

In response to this issue, the House of Representatives Commission X has formed a task force to investigate the reasons behind the recent increases in tuition fees.

In a meeting with Commission X in Jakarta last week, Nadiem explained that the tuition fee increase was outlined in Ministerial Regulation No. 2 of 2024 concerning the Standard Operational Costs of Higher Education (SBOPT) at State Universities. He clarified that these regulations apply only to new students and do not affect the tuition rates of current students.

Nadiem also stated that the tuition fee increase would not apply to new students with limited economic means. He added that students from low-income backgrounds would fall into the first and second UKT categories, with fees set by the government at Rp 500,000 per semester for the first group and Rp 1 million for the second group.

The government mandates that recipients of UKT categories one and two at each state university (PTN) must comprise at least 20 percent of the student body each year. Meanwhile, students with good to high economic capabilities will be charged UKT from the third category and above, according to their financial capacity, with fees determined by the university.

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