A couple who had been providing free university-style programs for students who were unable to pay their tuition fees have been detained since December, in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.
Yonathan of Kendari Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), which is handling the case, said he suspected an ulterior motive behind the arrest, kompas.com reported Tuesday.
Yonathan said the couple, Abdul Rifai, 80, and Zaliha Lasope, 70, were the founders of the Buton Islamic University (Unisbon) Foundation.
The couple, who founded the university in 2000, were being held at the Bau-bau Detention Center, he said, adding that LBH Kendari had been in contact with the Education Ministry Directorate General for Higher Education (Dikti) in Jakarta on Monday.
Dikti had been monitoring Unisbun since the year it was founded, but the institution was still awaiting its permit, Yonathan said.
“The campus has a unique operating method, in which tuition is free for those who are unable to pay. Students can pay after they have finished their studies and have begun earning a living,” he said.
Yonathan said the problem with permits came when the university started garnering more enrollments, in around 2008.
“The campus started being stigmatized as illegal,” he said.
The couple was arrested for allegedly falsifying certificates for its students.
No comments:
Post a Comment