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)