Local Government of Yogya Talks about the Bitterness of UNY Students and the Burden of UKT

TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta – The Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) highlights a bitter story UNY students (Yogyakarta State University), Nur Riska Fitri Aningsih, who is struggling to get a single tuition fee relief (UKT) until it died. Nur Riska’s death due to severe hypertension occurred in March 2022.

The story of a class of 2020 student majoring in History Education at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UNY, went viral after being shared by a friend who is also a senior in his class on social media. Nur Risk’s fate story was uploaded on January 11, 2023, or almost a year after Riska’s death.

“Should there be students who (financial difficulties) like this should be anticipated, we are really concerned, don’t let it happen again,” said DI Yogyakarta Secretary, Baskara Aji, Friday, January 13, 2023.

Aji also asked if anyone found a case like what happened to Riska, the surrounding environment, including friends, parents, lecturers, and even the campus, would not turn a blind eye. Assistance, he added, can also be done by communicating the difficulties the person is facing, “Either by writing or by other means.”

During her two-semester study at UNY, Riska had to face a UKT burden of IDR 3.14 million per semester. The son of an itinerant vegetable seller, the eldest of three siblings, tried to get optimal fee relief from his semester but never succeeded until his death.

“The UKT fee at UNY is from IDR 500,000 to IDR 6 million, if he really can’t afford it it can be freed, something like this must be anticipated,” said Aji, adding, “Wong student victims the Cianjur earthquake We can help those who study in Yogya, so cases like this should be immediately communicated to the campus.”

In the uploaded story, Nur Riska has repeatedly tried to meet campus leaders and was instead faced with complicated bureaucracy. Nur Riska was told to be ping pong here and there.

Nur Riska Fitri Aningsih, a UNY student who died on March 9 2022 ago in the middle of her struggle to get semester fee relief. Dock. FIS UNY

“If this is true, it is the responsibility of the chancellor and his environment to seek the truth of the information, so that a solution is found and it is not repeated to other students,” said Aji.

Aji said that the Yogyakarta Regional Government actually had a scholarship allocation program three years ago for underprivileged students studying in Yogyakarta. However, the program was then diverted due to a change in central government policy at that time which asked the provincial government to focus on handling senior high school or high school level.

Meanwhile campus affairs were fully withdrawn into central policy. “We can reactivate this assistance program for students through the education office, we will analyze the needs and regulations, so that students who can’t afford it can still be assisted through the regional budget,” he said.

If the assistance program from the regions for underprivileged students can be reactivated, said Aji, the distribution mechanism can be like what was done before the central authority was withdrawn.

“So we give allocations to each campus according to priority, because each campus already has scholarships, both from the central government, the campus itself, companies and local governments,” he said.