Budget for education increasing slowly

Budget for education increasing slowly

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The hopes of Indonesian children for better education still seem
to be only a dream at the moment, as the government will only be
able to meet the required budget stipulated in the Constitution
for the country's education sector within the next three years.

Speaking at a hearing with House of Representatives Commission
X for public welfare affairs on Monday, State Minister for
National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the
government could at best increase the education budget gradually
each year to meet the requirement by 2009.

"The government's current financial condition would make it
difficult to fulfill the requirement," she said, in the hearing
which was also attended by the Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Alwi Shihab and Minister of National Education Bambang
Sudibyo.

"The government, however, will still be committed in its
medium-term development plan to allocate more for education in
accordance with the Constitution."

Indonesia's 1945 Constitution, which the House amended in
1999, requires the state to provide at least 20 percent of its
annual state budget for education. The House and the previous
administration had agreed however to a scheme wherein the
government would gradually raise the amount.

According to the scheme, which the Commission reaffirmed in
the hearing, the government will increase the budget allocation
for the education sector by an average of 3 percent each year,
from 9.29 percent this year to 20.10 percent in 2009.

Last year, the budget allocation for education was 6.5
percent.

Data from the finance ministry shows that the government had
allocated Rp 18.4 trillion for education in 2004 through the
national education and religious affairs ministries. The
government plans to increase this to Rp 24.6 trillion this year.

Sri Mulyani further said that it would also be difficult for
the government to provide additional education funds through the
issuance of more state bonds, as the government is currently
trying to reduce the budget's debt ratio.

"Such a decision might be politically popular, but not in
terms of state fiscal management," she said.

Wrapping up the hearing, the Commission agreed to provide Rp
33.7 trillion for education next year. In the 2005 state budget
revision, the House also approved Rp 6.27 trillion in funds for
the schooling of children from low-income families.

Indonesia's schools are currently in a poor condition, which
is reflected in the report from the education ministry that 16
percent of the country's secondary school students failed their
final exams this year.