City says no to dissolution of school committees
City says no to dissolution of school committees
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta
Governor Sutiyoso said on Thursday that he supported the
existence of school committees as a mediator between parents and
school managements, rejecting the idea of dissolving them as
recommended by several councillors.
"If the committees do something wrong, please straighten them
out. But do not dissolve the committees," he said.
Sutiyoso asserted that the role of the committees was very
important because it was the only forum for parents to be
involved in providing additional facilities for the school.
However, he admitted that there should be a regulation to
exempt poor students from paying fees equal to the amount paid by
those who are from higher income families.
"The poor students should be subsidized by the rich. Better
still, the schools should exempt poor students from paying fees,"
he remarked.
City Council's Commission E overseeing people's welfare
criticized school committees on Wednesday amid reports that some
committees had imposed exorbitant school fees regardless of the
financial capability of the parents.
The committees turned out to be an additional burden for
students rather than a relief, said councillor Audi Z Tambunan.
Audi referred to media reports that parents had complained of
having to pay high fees that ranged from Rp 2 million
(US$224,700) to Rp 7.5 million per student.
Audi said that the commission had summoned the heads of both
the Jakarta Elementary School Education Agency and Jakarta Middle
and High School Education Agency to seek clarification.
Head of the middle and high school education agency Margani
Mustar defended the presence of the school committees in
compliance with Law No. 20/2003 on the National Education System.
Margani said the committees' objective was to garner greater
participation from the public in developing education amid the
government's low budget for education.
However, Margani said that the agency was preparing a circular
as a guideline on contributions and solutions for poor students
to ensure that no student dropped out of school because they
could not afford the fees.