TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Education and Cultural Affairs Minister Nadiem Makarim in claimed that he was surprised by the news about plans to introduce mandatory conscription for college students.

"I was surprised by the news as I heard about it because conscription had never been mentioned in several discussions held with the Defense Ministry," said Nadiem during a live broadcast in his Instagram account @nadiemmakarim on Wednesday, August 26, 2020.

According to his defense, the Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry only discussed the Merdeka Campus program with the defense ministry. The Merdeka Campus is a plan that frees students to participate in any form of training programs that fit their needs, which is exclusively voluntary.

Nadiem gave examples of programs such as leadership military programs, intelligence, or other similar programs throughout a student's whole semester.

“But we never discussed the mandatory conscription. I don't know what it is about and surely have not made any decisions regarding it," Nadiem assures.

Previously reported, Defense deputy minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono also clarified that no mandatory conscription will be introduced to campuses and that the defense ministry is only forming a program called 'bela negara' (defending the state) for college students.

DEWI NURITA | EGI ADYATAMA