Demonstrations Spread, It's Semarang Students' Turn to Reject Education Budget Efficiency

SEMARANG, KOMPAS — Thousands of students who are part of the Semarang Sues Alliance demonstrated in front of the Central Java Regional House of Representatives and the Semarang City Regional House of Representatives, Tuesday (18/2/2025) evening. The crowd demanded that the government evaluate several policies, including rejecting the budget efficiency policy which is feared to have a negative impact on the education sector.

Before demonstrating, the masses convoyed from several campuses towards the zero point area of Semarang, Semarang City Hall. They then stopped in front of the Central Java Regional House of Representatives. Students from various universities in Semarang then took turns giving speeches.

In the midst of the oration, the crowd urged to be allowed to enter the Central Java Regional House of Representatives to convey their demands. The request was denied by the police guarding the gate.

The government's policies really do not take into account the actual conditions of the people and are very detrimental to the people.

In their action, the masses also threw animal waste in front of the Central Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD Jateng) gate. This was an expression of their disappointment with various government policies that are considered to be causing suffering to the people.

"This demonstration is related to budget efficiency policies that greatly affect the education sector. In my opinion, the government's policies truly do not consider the actual conditions of the people and are very detrimental to them," said Nabila Zifni Syafira from the Islamic Student Association of Diponegoro University during the protest on Tuesday.

Budget efficiency, according to Nabila, will result in cuts to educational assistance for students. In fact, this assistance is greatly needed by students, especially those from low-income families.

"This policy also has the potential to increase the single tuition fee. My family is worried about that, so they are pushing me to graduate quickly," said Nabila.

At around 17:30 WIB, the protesters managed to break through police security and finally enter the Central Java DPRD complex. In the Central Java DPRD yard, student representatives read out a number of demands. In addition to asking for an evaluation of the efficiency policy, the students urged that the Draft Law (RUU) on Customary Law Communities and the Draft Law on Asset Confiscation.

"We demand that there be a revision of the Law on State Ministries to stop the obesity in the red and white cabinet and demand the acceleration of the reshuffle of problematic ministers. We also demand that mining concessions for higher education be rejected and demand a form of militarization in the civil sphere," said Ivan Oktavian, from the Semarang Raya Student Executive Board Alliance.

According to Ivan, the protesters also demanded the government fulfill its promise to suppress corruption, collusion, and nepotism. They also rejected repressive actions carried out by a number of law enforcement officers.

"We also demand that the ethics of state administration be upheld. In addition, we also ask the government to prioritize the main priorities, especially in the fields of education and health. Finally, we demand that the Nusantara Capital project be thoroughly investigated and the national strategic project be fully evaluated," he added.

Meanwhile, a number of students who are members of the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement held a demonstration in front of the Semarang City DPRD. There, they also demanded that the government evaluate a number of policies, especially efficiency in the field of education.

Friedrich Kamil, the coordinator of the action, said that PMII was moved to take to the streets because they were worried about the fate of their education in the future with the efficiency policy. According to Friedrich, Islamic Religious Colleges which initially received a budget of around Rp 24 trillion were cut due to efficiency to around Rp 14 trillion.

"The cuts include the termination of sending competition delegates, research funds, and the cutting of the budget implementation list (DIPA) for student organization activities. This has a very heavy effect, especially for friends who really need to study research abroad," said Friedrich.

In the demonstration at the Semarang City DPRD and Central Java DPRD offices, there were 1,167 police personnel on standby. The action continued until the evening. The masses dispersed at around 20.00.

According to the Head of Semarang City Police, Senior Commissioner Syahduddi, the personnel came from a number of units, from Semarang Police and Central Java Police.

"We also received personnel support from several nearby police stations, such as Semarang, Demak, Kudus, Kendal, Grobogan, and Batang," said Syahduddi.

Syahduddi said that he had emphasized to the police personnel on duty to keep the situation conducive during the action. He also ensured that there was no use of firearms during the security.

"We always emphasize to personnel to act according to SOP and ensure there are personnel from the provost to check the use of firearms," added Syahduddi.