20% budget allocation for schools? 'Not likely'

Urip Hudiono and Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While welcoming the Constitutional Court's ruling that obliges the government to increase the education budget, education observers raised doubts that the ruling would take effect in 2006, while the chief economics minister hinted at the likelihood of an even more bloated budget deficit if the ruling were implemented.

The Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday in its judicial review of the national education law, that government must allocate at least 20 percent of the state budget and regional budgets for education.

The percentage is in accordance with the amended 1945 Constitution.

The Court also ruled that the allocation should take effect in 2006, instead of a gradual increase.

The Court's panel of judges noted that this country's education system was lagging behind in terms of quality, so it needed to become a priority to improve that.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said that the government had considered allocating more but that it would raise the risk of widening the budget deficit.

The deficit projection so far in the 2006 State Budget draft is 0.7 percent.

"For instance with the larger budget allocation for health or education, the deficit will probably bloat to around 1.1 percent, which right now is being discussed at the House of Representatives," Aburizal said on Thursday, as quoted by Antara.

Educational expert and professor Conny Semiawan said that in these days of economic hardship, it would be unlikely that government would raise the budget for education in 2006.

"We have our hopes high, and we hope for the better, but frankly, I'm very pessimistic. Even with the ruling, if there's no money, the government cannot increase the allocation. So, let's just wait and see," said the former rector of Jakarta State University.

Education activist Yanti Muchtar from Kapal Perempuan (Ship of Women), a non-governmental organization working on education for women and the poor, said that the government must follow the Court's ruling, especially as the fuel price hikes have caused more students to drop out.

"The allocation should emphasize educational programs, particularly for the nine-year compulsory education. Which means that elementary and junior high school must be free," Yanti said.

The government, she said, should also revise the related laws and regulations that stipulate that the education budget must be paid for by the government, parents and communities, and thus free the government from its responsibility.

State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati, meanwhile, declined to comment on the Court's ruling, pending further assessment of the issue.

Sri Mulyani and Minister of Education Bambang Sudibyo had previously presented to the House of Representatives Commission XI for financial affairs, a scheme in which the government would increase each year the state budget's allocation for the education sector by an average of 3 percent each year, until it reaches 20.1 percent in 2009.

Data from the Ministry of Finance shows that the government had for this year allocated Rp 24.6 trillion (some US$2.4 billion) -- or 9.29 percent of the government's total expenditures -- for education through the national education and religious affairs ministries, which is a 33 percent increase from its allocation last year.

The House, however, agreed to provide Rp 33.7 trillion for the sector in the budget's final revision, along with Rp 6.27 trillion in low-income assistance funds for educational purposes.

The amount seems larger, but it is actually lower by percentage as the government's revised expenditures had also increased to Rp 411.6 trillion.

For the 2006 state budget, the government has proposed a total of Rp 31.3 trillion for the education sector, from the government's Rp 375 trillion planned expenditures.

The proposed budget is being deliberated by the House and could be approved in its plenary session on Oct. 27.