Additional school fees must be approved by PTA

Additional school fees must be approved by PTA

JAKARTA (JP): The City education authority yesterday told
chief administrators of state high schools that any additional
fees charged to students outside officially recognized admission
fees must be negotiated with parent-teacher associations (PTA).

Kusnan Ismukanto, head of the city branch of the Ministry of
Education and Culture, also warned 288 headmasters of state-run
junior high schools that these additional fees must not be linked
to official admission fees.

The meeting was held after strong complaints were raised about
the soaring admission fees facing parents who enroll their
children into junior and senior high schools.

On Thursday, 166 headmasters of state-run senior high schools
gathered at Kusnan's office to present their side of the issue.

"Don't ask for any donations from new students or impose
additional fees on them," Kusnan said yesterday.

By regulation, parents are only required to pay admission fees
and the cost of a packet of uniforms; both fees are set by the
City administration.

The admission fee for junior high schools is Rp 35,000 ($16)
and Rp 40,000 ($18) for senior high schools. The cost of a packet
of uniforms is Rp 55,700 ($25) and Rp 68,500 ($31) for junior and
senior high school students respectively.

Parents have complained that some high schools have been
charging hundreds of thousand of rupiah in additional fees during
the enrollment process.

The administration has already reprimanded headmasters of 20
state-run high schools for charging new students tuition fees in
excess of the government set levels.

Kusnan said that since education is the collective
responsibility of the government and people, school
administrators can raise additional fees from parents as they see
fit. "But don't take the donation during the current admission
period," he said.

He admitted that the budget available for each state school is
barely sufficient to ensure quality education, and therefore
school administrators must find ways to raise additional funds.

"We need funds to produce qualified graduates, and the funds
can come from parents," he said.

The government has waived the monthly tuition fees for junior
high schools since last year, when the compulsory education
program was expanded from six to nine years to include three
years of junior high school.

Senior high school students still pay Rp 6,000 ($3) a month.

Many state-run schools, however, have continued to impose
fees, or called for donations from parents under agreements
negotiated through parent-teacher associations.

Kusnan said yesterday that such negotiations should be
conducted only during the month of August.

He also used the opportunity yesterday to appeal to
headmasters to improve their teaching, noting the disappointing
results in this year's final examinations.

Kusnan was uncertain as to the reasons for the falling average
scores on final examinations at Jakarta's junior and senior high
schools this year. "Maybe the exams were more difficult this
year."

The average score of final examinations taken by senior high
schools dropped by nearly three points from 37.91 (for seven
subjects) to 35.11. (29)