Good basic education out of reach for low-income families<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has promised to provide free basic education
\nstarting this year. Yet, in reality, the public still have to pay
\nmoney to enroll their children in state schools and must pay even
\nmore if they want them to get a decent education. This week's
\ncover story takes a look at this issue.<\/p>\n
The new school year has brought 37-year-old Ella real
\nheadaches.<\/p>\n
She has two children who will be attending elementary and
\njunior high school.<\/p>\n
\"I have to pay at least Rp 1 million to get my children
\nenrolled. How can I get such amounts of money, when I have to
\nwork hard just to get money to pay for food and our monthly
\nrent?\" she wondered.<\/p>\n
Ella and her husband Bambang, 40, who have three children,
\nmake a living by selling vegetables and fish from a cart.
\nEveryday, they hawk their goods around their neighborhood in the
\nTanjung Barat area of South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
There are two elementary state schools near their residence:
\nelementary school SD No. 3, which offers additional subjects such
\nas computer and English, and SD No. 5 which offers no additional
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
Ella said that she wanted her son Umar, 6, to attend SD No. 5
\nrather than SD No. 3, because the former was cheaper.<\/p>\n
She realized that her son would get a better education at SD
\nNo. 3, but she could not afford the Rp 40,000 per month in fees
\nfor the additional programs run by the school, in addition to
\ncosts for books and uniforms. At SD No. 5, parents do not need to
\npay such fees but they do have to spend a certain amount of money
\nto buy books and uniforms from the school rather than from
\nbookstores.<\/p>\n
\"Free? What's free? We don't have to pay for enrollment and
\nmonthly school fees but we have to buy books and uniforms. In the
\npast, we only had to pay Rp 10,000 or Rp 20,000 in monthly
\ntuition fees and nothing else. Now, we have to spend Rp 200,000
\n(to buy books and uniforms) at the start of the school year,\" she
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Ella said she was worried that Umar would not be able to
\ncontinue his study at a good state junior higher school in the
\nfuture due to the poor quality of education he would get at SD
\nNo. 5.<\/p>\n
She also considered delaying the enrollment of her first child
\nBudi, 12, into junior high school until next year given the
\ndifficult financial condition of the family.<\/p>\n
Although most state elementary schools in the Greater Jakarta
\narea officially scrapped enrollment and monthly tuition fees last
\nyear, parents still have to pay various expenses in order to get
\ntheir children educated. Costs include so-called \"building
\nmaintenance fees\", which range from Rp 100,000 to over Rp 5
\nmillion, depending on the popularity of the school, as well as
\nuniforms, books, and monthly tuition fees for supplementary
\nlessons.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, state junior high schools in Greater Jakarta still
\nrequire parents to pay enrollment fees and monthly tuition fees.<\/p>\n
Parents have to pay millions of rupiah in enrollment fees if
\nthey want to get their children into better state schools that
\npromise a better education. Some are even prepared, or sometimes
\nforced, to pay two or five times higher to enroll their children
\nin a private school.<\/p>\n
For Jujuk, 35, who lives not far away from Ella's house, the
\nnew school year means she has to wash more of her neighbor's
\nclothes in order to collect enough money to cover the costs to
\nenroll her daughter Indah, 12, in a junior high school.<\/p>\n
\"She (Indah) and many of her friends at SD No. 05 failed to
\nget into a state junior high school. So, we must register her
\nwith a private school. However, we need at least Rp 500,000 to
\nget her enrolled into the cheapest private school,\" she told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
With four children and an unemployed husband, Jujuk, who earns
\naround Rp 400,000 a month, they were bewildered as to where they
\nwould get the money to enroll Indah in school.<\/p>\n
\"I want my children to get a good quality education so that
\nthey can be somebody someday, but from elementary school we could
\nonly get them education of poor quality. How can they get a good
\nsecondary school? I think only rich people can get into good
\nschools.<\/p>\n
\"I am afraid that my daughter will end up doing my job while
\nmy son will work on a construction site,\" she said.<\/p>\n
According to a 2003 national survey, almost 9 percent of
\naround 40 million school-age children (seven to 15 years old)
\ndropped out of school. Around 70 percent of the dropouts said
\nthey quit school because their parents could not afford to pay
\ntheir school fees.<\/p>\n
Ella and Jujuk are among such parents.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/good-basic-education-out-of-reach-for-low-income-families-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }