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.