City plans to increase subsidy for state schools<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The city administration has decided to increase subsidies for
\nstate elementary and junior high schools in the capital, but the
\nhike might not be enough to provide free schooling as promised.<\/p>\n
Head of City Basic Education Sylviana Murni said that the
\nsubsidy for school operational costs (BOS) would be raised from
\nthe current Rp 27,500 (US$2.75) per student per month to Rp
\n50,000 per student per month in 2006.<\/p>\n
Aside from that, state schools still receive BOS funds from
\nthe central government worth Rp 19,500 per student per month.<\/p>\n
"With the subsidy from the city administration and the central
\ngovernment, parents of elementary school students should not pay
\nany fees (at all) as the schools' operational costs are already
\ncovered by the subsidies," Sylviana said.<\/p>\n
Sylviana, however, admitted that it was still difficult to
\nprovide free schooling for junior high schools.<\/p>\n
"For elementary school students, we have no problems because
\nwe have allotted the funds, but for junior high school students,
\nit might be very difficult," she said, adding that the issue
\nwould be further discussed by City Councillers.<\/p>\n
For junior high school students, the city administration will
\nincrease its subsidy from Rp 50,000 per student per month to Rp
\n65,000 per student per month next year, while BOS funds from the
\ncentral government for each student will be Rp 27,500 per student
\nper month.<\/p>\n
There are some 640,000 elementary school students and 250,000
\njunior high school students in the capital.<\/p>\n
Sylviana said that the operational costs for each junior high
\nschool student was Rp 150,000 per month.<\/p>\n
She said that Governor Sutiyoso had supported the plan for
\nfree junior high schools and had asked her to discuss the issue
\nwith the City Council.<\/p>\n
According to the draft city budget for 2006 submitted to the
\nCity Council early this week, the city administration allocated
\nRp 3.79 trillion to the education sector, 13.69 percent higher
\nthan the allocation for 2005.<\/p>\n
Chairman of City Council's Commission E for education, health,
\nand people welfare Dani Anwar said that the city would have to
\nallocate Rp 100 billion more for the education sector if it
\nwanted to provide free education at senior high schools.<\/p>\n
"In principle, we will help the city administration earmark
\nmore money to cover elementary and junior high school operations.
\nI believe that we can provide free education to all junior high
\nschool students next year," Dani told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Interviews with some schools and students in the capital,
\nhowever, suggested that free schooling in Jakarta was still long
\nway off.<\/p>\n
While some state elementary and junior high schools find the
\nsubsidies just enough to cover operational costs, some claimed
\nthe amounts were inadequate to cover school operations.<\/p>\n
Amir Syarifuddin, a teacher at SDN Kebon Sirih 1 Pagi, said
\nthat with the subsidies his school would be able to provide
\nstudents with some textbooks and finance several extracurricular
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
But for a number of other schools, the money was not enough to
\ncover their operational costs.<\/p>\n
Sugimin, a teacher at SDN Menteng 1 Pagi in Central Jakarta,
\nsaid that according to the school draft budget for 2006, the
\noperational cost for each student in his school would be some Rp
\n80,000 per month.<\/p>\n
According to the teacher, the money would be used to finance
\nvarious extracurricular activities like computer and English
\ncourses and various sports, as well as for paying electricity
\nbills.<\/p>\n
"Classes in our school are equipped with air conditioners,
\ntherefore we must pay large amount on electricity bills," said
\nSugimin, who was given an award for being the city's "best
\nteacher" by the city administration this year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-plans-to-increase-subsidy-for-state-schools-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}