Education for all remains a distant dream in Indonesia

By Rita A. Widiadana and Irene Sugiharto

JAKARTA (JP): The 1999/2000 academic year began on July 19. Thousands of new students have eagerly been at their studies since three weeks ago.

But for 10-year-old Daruri, a street kid at Kramat Jati market, East Jakarta, there will be no school days.

"I have to work on the street selling newspapers. I wonder when I can wear that red and white uniform, like them?" he sighed.

In 1997, Daruri had to quit school because his father, a construction worker, could no longer support his education. His father, like thousands of low-paid laborers and workers, has been out of work since the crisis started two years ago.

His father, Achmad, saw a ray of hope for his son when he saw television ads for the government's preregistration and Aku Anak Sekolah (I am a Student) programs, a joint campaign by the government and the United Nations Emergency Fund (Unicef) allowing poor school-age children and dropouts to resume their schooling.

He rushed to several nearby public schools to enroll his son. What happened then was very disappointing. The teachers and school principals refused to register Daruri, explaining that they were not yet informed by the Ministry of Education and Culture local office to accept poor children and dropouts.

"All those ads on TV are just beautiful pictures which give illusive hope to poor parents like us," Achmad complained.

Although he was very disappointed he said it was a blessing in disguise.

"The registration is probably free but we don't have any money to buy school books, uniforms or a pair of black shoes as required by the school's regulation," added Achmad.

For the time being, he cannot do anything but let his son continue his job on the street.

Marni, 49, a vegetable vendor at Mayestik Market in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, has another sad story.

When she went to register her 12-year-old daughter at a public junior high school near the market, she was startled.

"I was asked to pay hundreds of thousands rupiah as an admission fee plus an additional donation for the school. How can a vendor like me pay such a huge amount?" she complained.

What she knew was that the government has already exempted poor students from paying extra money except registration fees, stated at Rp 3,500 for junior high school and Rp 4,000 for senior high school. Elementary school enrollments at public schools are free.

Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono has assured parents that during the current crisis, they are not obligated to make extra payments for such things as buying textbooks, new uniforms and donations required by school managements as well as parents' organizations.

"Yet, it seems there is no public school which implements the government's regulations. There is a wide difference between the written word and the reality in the field. It is confusing and frustrating," she said.

Inconsistent

Achmad and Marni represent hundreds of thousands disadvantaged parents who are disappointed by unclear government regulations on school enrollments for this year's academic period.

There are still many violations occurring in schools around Jakarta and other cities as well.

In certain schools, particularly favorite public junior high schools and senior high schools, parents are required to pay donations for building maintenance, extracurricular activities and additional programs.

Nani, a cook, said that one of her four children had just entered a public junior high school in Bekasi. The enrollment fee is Rp 15,000, which is the same amount as the monthly tuition fee.

"But I had to pay Rp 200,000 for additional administration fees, which are supposedly for building maintenance plus other things.

"On top of that, I still had to spend Rp 135,000 for my daughter's school uniforms," she said.

It is common here for students to be required to buy their uniforms from their school to ensure they all wear exactly the same thing.

Unfortunately, the price is not uniform. While Nani has to pay Rp 135,000 for her daughter's school uniform, another mother, Lina, has to pay Rp 205,000 for the uniform of her son. In addition, she still has to pay another Rp 50,000, which includes the first month's tuition fee, computer fee, student card fee and compulsory fees for extra curricular activities.

Alwi Nurdin, head of the Ministry of Education and Culture Jakarta office, showed his teeth.

Last year, about 10 school principals were dismissed and 50 others received very strong warnings for violating the regulation.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation's outgoing chairwoman, Tini Hadad, said earlier that violations of school enrollment programs reflect the country's chaotic education system and incoherent policies.

Imposing strong punishment against teachers and school principals will not solve the core problem.

The welfare of teachers and physical conditions of local schools, especially public schools, are dismaying. "The registration period has been used by them to collect extra money for improving teachers' conditions and repairing old buildings," she said.

If the government wants to eradicate violations, it must first provided teachers' basic needs and improve school facilities.

Lies, a mother of two, added she does not mind paying extra for improving the facilities of her son's new school, SMP 47, a state junior high school in East Jakarta.

Compared to parents who send their children to private schools, she paid very little. "My son is allowed to borrow books from the school and I paid only Rp 15,000 extra for a computer course."

Tini added that so far, only rich parents could pay for quality education in Indonesia. The vast majority of the population can hardly get a basic education, let alone one of quality.

Minister Juwono admitted that the government must work harder to improve education infrastructure -- software and hardware.

"For the time being, we cannot rely on the government's state budget for education, which is quite low (7 percent of the state budget)," the minister said.

The ministry must manage Rp 5.5 trillion in funds to finance the operation of 500,000 public schools and 51 state universities and high institutions across the country's 27 provinces.

"I am asking for active participation from individuals, private institutions and other parties to implement education activities," Juwono said.

In the present crisis, he said, the government is focusing on helping poor students and is implementing programs to reduce dropouts and to maintain school attendance levels.

Efforts to help disadvantaged students, especially during the crisis, are carried out by the government with the help of various local and international donor institutions.

The government, for instance, has allocated Rp 6 billion in funds to carry out a preregistration program for elementary school students in the l999/2000 academic year, in addition to a Rp 1.7 trillion social safety net fund for education and other funds from international agencies.

"But, we made a mistake by announcing the program during the school holidays. As a result, not many people were aware of the program," Juwono admitted.

He also said that the government has provided Rp 6 billion in funds for 30,000 high school graduates from poor families who wanted to enter state universities.

"There are still loopholes and obstacles that continue to hamper the implementation of the above programs, yet we have to continue them, otherwise Indonesia will have no chance of having qualified human resources," he said.