Purwokerto – Hundreds of students at Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) in Purwokerto, Central Java, staged a rally and blocked the rectorate building on Tuesday, demanding the rector cancel the recently introduced Association of Students Parents (POM) payment.

They said the payment was illegal and unjustly burdened students' parents. "Stop any kind of illegal payment and stop any kind of education commercialization on our campus," Feby, the coordinator of the rally, shouted.

Emi, a student of communications, disclosed that the university requested her to make POM payment, asking her parents to pay Rp 10 million (US$950), just days after she was accepted as a Unsoed student.

"If we do not pay it, the university will not allow us to join lectures. That's why my parents paid it," Emi told The Jakarta Post at the rally.

Another student, Tanti, revealed a similar experience. She was asked by the university to make a POM payment of Rp 15 million. The amount of the payment is determined by the university and depends on the students' year and the faculty.

"It ranges between Rp 5 million at up to more than Rp 100 million," Tanti said.