Education scheme to benefit 200,000 villagers
Education scheme to benefit 200,000 villagers
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
About 200,000 people in rural areas across the country will
benefit from a Rp 50 billion government scheme providing basic
literacy and other vocational training courses over a six-month
period.
The education scheme is one component of government programs
valued at Rp 2.2 trillion aimed at compensating low-income
earners who are worst affected by the recent fuel price hikes.
Fasli Djalal, director general of informal and youth education
at the Ministry of National Education, said the scheme will
involve 400 community learning centers, 170,000 illiterate people
and 16,000 vocational tutors in 360 regencies and municipalities.
The program aims to assist those pursuing education or keen to
improve their practical skills through informal learning centers,
he said.
Out of the Rp 2.2 trillion allocation from the Ministry of
Finance, the Ministry of National Education received Rp 673
billion, Rp 50 billion of which has been allotted to the scheme.
It was not clear whether the remaining Rp 623 billion has been
channeled to programs intended to assist the poor.
All the beneficiaries were proposed by local administrations
after conducting a selection process of all prospective
recipients.
Under the program, each participant in literacy courses will
receive between Rp 60,000 to Rp 120,000 for the period of six
months, while vocational tutors will be given Rp 600,000 each.
Community learning centers run by non-governmental
organizations, private individuals or Islamic boarding schools,
will each receive Rp 50 million from the scheme.
The compensation funds will be distributed between Dec. 3 and
Dec. 31.
Fasli said the program is not only aimed at improving the
education levels of poor people, including early school leavers,
but their practical skills as well, so they will be able to live
independently in the future.
"We should empower them to be independent," he remarked.
He said his ministry had established teams to supervise
implementation of the scheme and prevent any possible corruption
of funds.
The teams include local education officials and activists from
non-governmental organizations, including the Central Independent
Monitoring Unit (CIMU) formed by the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank, Fasli said.
He also called on the public to report any possible
irregularities or corruption related to the scheme.
Fasli said every beneficiary organization would be made
accountable for the funds received.
The government came under enormous criticism for corruption
and irregularities during execution of the Habibie
administration's Social Safety Net programs, involving trillions
of rupiah.
The programs were introduced by former president B.J. Habibie
in 1998 to help low income earners survive the devastating
economic crisis that began in July 1997.