Golkar proposes 12-year compulsory education<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Golkar is designing a policy to extend
\nchildren's compulsory education from nine to 12 years, party
\nsecretary Ary Mardjono said yesterday.<\/p>\n
He said Golkar would encourage the government to incorporate
\nit in the 1998 Guidelines of State Policies.<\/p>\n
Golkar would propose more emphasis on moral education and
\nimprovements to the education system so that Indonesia could
\ncompete internationally, he said.<\/p>\n
Golkar's rivals, the United Development Party (PPP) and the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party (PDI) have proposed increasing the
\neducation component of the state budget from 12 percent to 25
\npercent.<\/p>\n
Ary said that wealthier Asian countries had set aside 25
\npercent of their national budgets for education.<\/p>\n
\"It all sounds good but the thing is Golkar doesn't want to
\nmake promises that it knows will be impossible to keep,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Lampung, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman
\nDjojonegoro told Golkar supporters that demands to make school
\ntuition free were totally unrealistic.<\/p>\n
\"We must know our own capacity. Under the current economic
\nconditions it's impossible to free every secondary and high
\nschool student from school fees,\" Wardiman told students a rally.<\/p>\n
In the Lampung town of Kotabumi, Golkar chief Harmoko said he
\nwas optimistic the party would win the election because of its
\nrealistic programs.<\/p>\n
Harmoko defended the government's floating mass policy by
\nsaying people were free to join any of the three parties.<\/p>\n
But under the policy, the parties are not allowed to have
\nsubdistrict of lower-level representative offices.<\/p>\n
The PPP and PDI say the policy benefits Golkar because all
\ncivil servants in the villages through to provincial
\nadministrations were Golkar functionaries. Therefore Golkar did
\nnot need local offices.<\/p>\n
\"It is untrue to say that Golkar wins every election because
\nof the floating mass policy,\" Harmoko said. \"It wins because
\npeople enjoy the fruits of development.\"<\/p>\n
Harmoko, also the minister of information, said Golkar now has
\n32 million registered members nationwide.<\/p>\n
Golkar aims to win 70.02 percent of the vote on May 29. In the
\n1992 election, it won a majority of 68 percent.<\/p>\n
Harmoko promised Golkar would seek to help Lampung build more
\nelectricity systems, roads, and bridges.<\/p>\n
Golkar's campaign in the North Sumatra capital of Medan
\nfeatured Akbar Tanjung, the state minister of people's housing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, hundreds of students of the
\nIndonesian Islamic University demonstrated to condemn Golkar,
\nwhose supporters allegedly vandalized their Law Faculty during a
\nrally Thursday.<\/p>\n
The students unfurled dozens of banners, saying \"Don't vote
\nfor a brutal contestant,\" and \"Halt! Golkar is barred from
\ncampus\". (aan\/23\/21\/38)<\/p>",
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