Teachers' textbook scams increase fees, dropouts<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung<\/p>\n
Some 30,000, or three percent of all elementary and junior high
\nstudents in Lampung province, are forced to drop out of school
\neach year due to the ever-increasing cost of education,
\nparticularly school fees and books.<\/p>\n
Teachers have also played a key role in pushing the dropout
\nrate up via a dubious book-selling system.<\/p>\n
The secretary of the Indonesian Teachers Dignity Forum (FMGI),
\nGino Vanolie, said that book procurement had become a profit-
\noriented scheme perpetrated by teachers in elementary and junior
\nhigh schools, creating an insurmountable burden for many students
\nand their families.<\/p>\n
Students are being forced to buy textbooks from teachers, when
\nthey actually could borrow them from older students or from the
\nschool. \"We also found out that students were forced to leave
\nschool because they were ashamed when teachers asked them to pay
\nfor the registration fees they couldn't afford. Such fees could
\nreach Rp 300,000 to Rp 400,000 per student,\" said Gino.<\/p>\n
Nine-year-old Ersa, a third grader at an elementary school in
\nNorth Telukbetung area in the city of Bandarlampung, said that
\nshe was too embarrassed to go to school because she had not paid
\nthe registration fees. \"The teacher also forced me to buy the
\nbooks from him,\" said Ersa.<\/p>\n
Rony, 40, the parent of a girl studying at an elementary
\nschool in West Tanjungkarang, Bandarlampung city, acknowledged
\nthat his daughter was once suspended for not paying for books.
\n\"There were 10 in her class that were sent home,\" said Rony.<\/p>\n
Many schools have even begun renting books to pupils, Gino,
\nwho is also a teacher, acknowledged. \"Textbook rentals have also
\nburdened poor parents. Students will not be allowed to attend
\nclasses if they don't rent the textbooks,\" said Gino, who also
\nteaches at High School No. 10 in Bandarlampung.<\/p>\n
The head of the Lampung Education Office, Chaerul Thabranie,
\nsaid that the amount of assistance allocated for needy students
\nby the provincial administration was not enough to cover the cost
\nof retaining potential dropouts.<\/p>\n
Lampung currently has over 900,000 elementary and junior high
\nschool students.<\/p>\n
For 2004, the office has allotted Rp 47.464 billion (US$5
\nmillion) to help students at risk of dropping out of school
\nthrough the Special Assistance for Students (BKM) program.<\/p>\n
A total of Rp 28.6 billion (US$3 million), or 60 percent, is
\nallocated for elementary to high school education, Rp 12.7
\nbillion or 27 percent for higher education, Rp 4.5 billion (9.5
\npercent) for sports and Rp 1.5 billion (3.2 percent) for cultural
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
In the initial stage of the program, Rp 33 billion of the
\nfunds, derived from the fuel subsidy scheme, will be provided
\ndirectly to the students.<\/p>\n
The amount of subsidy allocated for each needy student is Rp
\n120,000 for elementary school, Rp 240,000 for junior high and Rp
\n300,000 for senior high.<\/p>",
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