All is Not Well at Surya University
Dubbed Indonesia's 'Father of Physics' after producing many young world physics champions, Yohanes Surya's very name seemed like a guarantee for quality education. He established the Teacher Training and Education Academy to help Papuan youths, as well as the Surya University, in the hope of yielding bright Indonesian scientists. But Tempo's investigation found these institutions in disarray, with debts amounting to billions of rupiah. Hundreds of parents of students say they were cheated through an unsecured student loan scheme and are now being forced to pay back loans that they never benefited from.
July 25, 2017
DANANG Widodo, 49, never had an outstanding debt before. The information technology entrepreneur who lives in Denpasar, Bali, had always paid his bills on time. At the end of August 2016, however, his Rp1-billion loan request to the local BNI branch was declined due to a 'collect 3' status, apparently because his Bank Mandiri loan was three to four months past due.
"They told me I had a non-collateral loan (KTA) debt at Mandiri," Danang said. He wa
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