Economic crisis dries up education ministry's energy

Economic crisis dries up education ministry's energy

JAKARTA (JP): The education sector, the most vital human
resource investment, has been hit hard by the ongoing crisis,
which is still showing no signs of recovery.

More than 20 million school-age children may not have the
chance for an education because the funds and facilities
allocated for this sector are inadequate.

While the cost of sending children to school has dramatically
increased, millions of parents have lost their jobs, making it
impossible for them to finance their kids' education.

Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono said this
situation is very serious, and a burden for the affected families
as well as the government.

"This means that the government has to provide a large subsidy
to enable children eligible for school to continue their
schooling," he said.

The ministry's data revealed a gloomy picture. According to
the data, the number of dropout students reached 8,156 in Jakarta
alone by the end of l998.

Reports from school principals in Jakarta revealed more
depressing facts. Around 110,000 students, from elementary to
high school level, have asked to be exempted from paying monthly
tuition fees.

Thousands of students in private schools in Jakarta have not
paid their tuition fees for more than four months because their
parents are jobless.

The government has already exempted elementary school students
from paying school fees. However, some schools have parents'
organizations that collect donations from parents to support
operational costs and students' extra-curricular activities.

Students of state junior high schools and senior high schools
in Jakarta are still required to pay school fees between Rp 7,500
and Rp 15,000 per month, excluding costs of extra-curricular and
supporting activities, which can be more than Rp 50,000 a month.

In Central Java, and other provinces outside Java, the
condition is far more depressing. Around 73,000 elementary school
children have dropped out, while 225,000 school-age kids were
unable to enroll at elementary schools in Central Java.

To help those unfortunate kids, the government signed an
agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World
Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other donor institutions to
set aside Rp 1.7 trillion in social safety net funds for securing
national education programs for the l999/2000 academic year.

Previously, the World Bank provided US$500 million in soft
loans to support the country's education sector, which is
collapsing.

The social safety net funds are allocated to provide
scholarships for 1.8 million elementary school children and 1.5
million junior high school students.

Each elementary student receives Rp 30,000 every three months,
while junior high school students get Rp 60,000.

"The social safety net programs are still underway and we are
closely monitoring their implementation across the country's
17,000 islands," explained the minister.

He admitted that the programs are far from perfect and need to
be evaluated every three months.

"A lack of human resources and secure distribution and
monitoring systems have slowed the programs' implementation," he
explained.

In this critical time, the government is focusing on helping
the worst-affected poor groups. In addition to the social safety
net fund, the government also launched a pre-registration program
to anticipate the increasing number of school dropouts in the
l999/2000 academic year.

Under the program, which costs Rp 6 billion, poor students
from elementary and junior high schools could be registered at
the nearest school. Older students who plan to quit school would
be financially supported to continue their studies.

For 30,000 high school graduates from poor families wanting to
enter state universities, the government has designed a special
scholarship scheme for the l999 to 2003 academic period.

Each year, assistance will be given to 5,000 students.

Every student will get Rp 45,000 for taking part in university
exams (UMPTN), if he or she is accepted in one of the state
universities, the government will provide one-year tuition fees.

"The government will continue to search for additional funds
for these students to prevent them from quitting their university
education," he said.

Funds for pre-registration and university scholarship schemes
were not derived from the state budget but from the mobilization
of private and individual resources.

"It is impossible for the government to work alone without
full support from the private sector, non-government
organizations, religious groups and the community," Juwono said.

The United Nations Children Fund (Unicef) has made a great
contribution by launching the program Aku Anak Sekolah (I am a
Student), which provides scholarships for millions of needy
students.

Around 850,000 students were saved under the National Foster
Parents Programs (GNOTA), which allocated Rp 60.33 billion for
scholarship and monthly allowances.

A large number of companies, including PT Astra International,
Citibank, PT Sampoerna, the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation
and many others, have also participated in providing education
funds.

Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin Nasution, for
instance, recently launched a plan to use forestry funds for
educational purposes.

He suggested that forest concession-holding companies set
aside US$2 per cubic meter of wood taken from Indonesian forests
for education aid.

Indonesia produces around 23 million cubic meters of wood
annually. This means the educational fund from forestry could
amount to about $46 million. (raw)