City official defends principal over graft

City official defends principal over graft

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration defended on Wednesday the principal of
state 232 Junior High School in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, who had
used a scholarship fund for his students to buy electronic goods
and furniture.

"I think the principal (Tri Jumena) had his own reasons for
using the money to buy those goods. Moreover, the decision had
been approved by the school committee," said head of the City
Elementary and Secondary Education Agency Sylviana Murni.

Sylviana was referring to the findings of City Council
Commission E for education, health and people's welfare that SMP
232 had spent part of a Rp 131.67 million (US$14,555) scholarship
fund to buy electronic goods and furniture.

Commission E chairman Dani Anwar said the Rp 131.67 million
scholarship fund was allocated from the city's 2004 budget to
provide scholarships for the school's 798 students.

Each student was to receive Rp 27,500 per month over a period
of six months.

But the school only allocated a scholarship fund for 82
students in the school, while the remainder of the money was used
to buy air-conditioners and television sets, chairs and tables,
and photocopy machines, as well as to repair the doors of seven
school toilets.

According to Dani, a television set, air-conditioner and
furniture was placed in the principal's room.

He said the city allocated some Rp 35.98 billion in block
grants for 218,091 students of city-owned junior high schools
last year.

Sylviana did not say whether the scholarship fund could be
used to purchase school equipment or not as she had yet to study
existing technical guidelines on the use of the fund.

According to Sylviana, a change in the use of the scholarship
fund may occur "if the existing regulations open up such a
possibility."

Dani, however, stressed that Technical Guideline No. 288/2004
on the spending of block grants, which was issued by the City
Elementary and Secondary Education Agency, did not permit the use
the scholarship fund to buy school facilities.

"I think it is clear that the fund is only to be used to
subsidize the students' education. I do not understand how
purchasing television sets and air-conditioners can be
interpreted as part of the learning experience," he added.

Dani said Commission E would summon the SMP 232 principal and
Sylviana to seek clarification on the issue. He did not say when
the commission would summon the two.

He added that the commission would visit several other schools
to check whether they had also used scholarship funds to buy
school equipment.

According to Sylviana, he had met with Tri Jumena and told him
prepare all the documents regarding the use of block grants.

She said that she may revise the current technical guidelines
on the use of block grants so that there would be no
misinterpretation by schoolmasters.

"The findings of Commission E is a good lesson for us. We may
revise the regulation so that there will be no misinterpretation
in the future," she added.