Exchange program for school principals

JAKARTA: The government will instigate an exchange program between schools principals from eastern Indonesia and principals from areas with a higher quality of education, such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Central Java and West Java.

"The decision has been taken considering the gap in education (standards) between the east and west parts of the country. We want to reduce the gap through this exchange program," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday.

He cited the results of the latest state university student's admission test.

The top five highest results were reached by Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Central Java, West Java and Banten, while North Maluku, Central Sulawesi, Papua, East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku were the lowest.

The program will commence by January 2004 and run for about a year, initially involving 200 principals from both regions. Minister of National Education, Abdul Malik Fajar, said the program could cost Rp 50 billion (US$5.88 million). --JP