DAU to help 'meet education budget'

DAU to help 'meet education budget'

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In order to fulfill the education budget required by the
Constitution, the central government may encourage regional
administrations to allocate 50 percent of their 2003 general
allocation funds (DAU) for education, an expert has said.

Senior lecturer at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture Hidayat
Syarief said the government had no other alternative but to take
such a measure.

"Otherwise, the government will breach the Constitution and
the House of Representatives (DPR) will consequently have to
reprimand the government," Hidayat said over the weekend.

In the draft 2003 state budget, the government has allocated
some Rp 13.6 trillion (US$1.5 billion) for education. The amount
accounts for some 25 percent of total development spending of Rp
55.5 trillion, but less than 4 percent of total government
expenditure of Rp 354 trillion.

Article 31 (4) of the amended 1945 Constitution stipulates
that the state shall give priority to the education budget by
allocating a minimum of 20 percent of the total state and
regional budgets, to meet the costs of national education.

Hidayat said political parties appeared reluctant to declare
that the government had violated the Constitution for failing to
allocate 20 percent of the state budget to education.

Hidayat said if local governments had the courage to allocate
50 percent of DAU for education, the education budget would reach
about Rp 80.5 trillion, or 22 percent of the draft 2003 state
budget.

"The government and the House must work hand in hand to
persuade local governments to take this measure," he said.

The government has started disbursing DAU for regional
administrations as part of the implementation of Law No. 22/1999
on Regional Autonomy.

Hidayat said that with the additional funding, Indonesia was
expected to close the gap in education with other countries such
as South Korea and Malaysia.

Besides, he said, the management of education funds must be
also be transparent to prevent corruption.

"I think it is time to establish an "education watch" to
monitor the use of education funds," he said.

He added the funds should be disbursed to raise the number of
teachers, improve school facilities and be distributed to
teachers and schools across the country.

Meanwhile, House education expert Fathoni R. said that the
House would try to ensure that the government did not breach the
Constitution.