Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Cliff Muntu wanted to serve the Indonesian people, so after failing to gain entry to police college he enrolled at the Institute for Public Administration, hoping to obtain a mid-level public sector position.

Mr Muntu had just been elected as the campus flag holder, a prestigious position in the military-style institute, and on April 2 jogged at lunchtime with other members of the flag team carrying duffle bags weighed down with stones on their backs.

After the day's classes he attended drum band rehearsal until 11.30pm, then told friends he had to meet the flag team – the election of the quietly spoken 20-year-old had provoked resentment from others. Soon after, a quarrel erupted, supposedly over Mr Muntu's improper handling of the national flag.

Seven students allegedly surrounded and beat Mr Muntu so savagely his heart, lungs and liver were bruised and bleeding. He died about midnight. Mr Muntu is the 18th student to have suffered a violent death since the institute was established in 1990.

His murder has provoked soul-searching at the highest levels of the administration. The President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said the militaristic culture at the institute and other government training centres was intolerable. Dr Yudhoyono, a former army chief, described Mr Muntu's death as the tip of an iceberg.

"Strong leaders both mentally and physically are not always built by inhuman, violent and sadistic methods," Dr Yudhoyono said. "There are a lot of other ways to create physically and mentally strong leaders."

Initially the institute said Mr Muntu had died naturally, of liver failure, and staff tried to prevent police carrying out an autopsy. A philosophy lecturer, Inu Kencana, went to police and local media this week, saying that senior staff continued to tolerate widespread violence.

"The truth must be upheld in the killing of at least 18 students since 1993, and the institute's curriculum must be revised to phase out the violent culture," he said.

The institute's first reaction was to suspend Mr Kencana for making unauthorised statements to the media. Following Dr Yudhoyono's intervention, Mr Kencana has been reinstated, the institute's rector has been suspended and enrolments frozen for a year to "break the cycle of violence" and overhaul its practices.

Changing a culture ingrained with bastardisation is easier said than done. The previous rector was sacked and reforms supposedly initiated in 2003, after another student was tortured and murdered.

According to local media reports, several students accused of taking part in that murder remain at the institute.

Indonesian Government academies retain some of the worst elements of military training, a hangover from decades of military dictatorship under president Soeharto, according to Sofian Effendi, a public administration expert at Gadjah Mada University.

"The special institutes have to provide education and training programs instead of the military-style education to improve the skills of their students in serving the public," he said.

Dr Yudhoyono announced this week that management of the institute would be transferred from the Home Ministry to the Education Ministry. He has also demanded police and military colleges abandon training involving physical contact.

Violence is not the only problem at the institute, Indonesia's main public sector training centre. Mr Kencana also observed his marks of students were at times mysteriously altered, blaming corruption within the administration.

On Thursday Mr Muntu's parents held a tearful memorial at the institute, attended by other parents and students. One parent, who declined to give his name, remained sceptical that changes would be made. Junior students had been warned not to discuss Mr Muntu's murder, even with their own families, he said.