Experts hail 2003 education budget but warn of abuses

Experts hail 2003 education budget but warn of abuses

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Education experts praised on Sunday the government's plan to
increase the education budget to Rp 13.6 trillion (US$1.5
billion) next year from Rp 11.6 trillion this year, but warned
that it should closely monitor the allocation of the funds.

Experts J.P. Drost and Arief Rahman said the increase on
education spending was necessary to help attain a good quality of
human resources.

"It's a good signal from the government, but it must ensure
that the funds go to the right persons, not to the corruptors,"
Drost told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"There is an increased realization from the government that
education is actually an investment in the future. This
opportunity must be utilized by teachers to develop the education
system, not a means to grab some easy money," Arif said.

According to Drost, the government had correctly allocated the
planned funds to develop a nine-year obligatory education.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri said in her speech at the
House of Representatives on Friday that the government planned to
allocate 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 the
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.

The government raised the education expenditure, although it's
still far short of the 20 percent minimum as mandated in the
amended Constitution.

Megawati said on Friday that the government would earmark the
education funds for improving the implementation of the nine-year
obligatory school curriculum.

The improvement would include rehabilitation, classification,
and development of elementary schools and traditional Islamic
schools as well as other schools, she said.

"Scholarships and aid for students from poor families will be
raised," Megawati said.

The government would also decentralize education, she added.

Indonesia, under Megawati's father, President Sukarno had one
of the best education systems in all of Asia, but in the past 30
years has fallen precipitously, as numerous ratings have put it
as one of the worst in Asia.

Arief said with the increased funds, the government should be
able to modify the standard of education, which only focused on
memorization, while leaving out character building.

The government should also actively try to introduce education
in rural, conflict and poor areas to help improve the standard of
living for the millions of children in those areas, he said.

In the routine spending section of the budget, the government
also planned to increase the salary of teachers, police and
military officers as well as other civil servants by 10 percent
starting Jan. 1, 2003.

The government also plans to increase teachers' basic benefit
package by some 50 percent starting on Oct. 1 this year.

In addition, per diem amounts for police and military
personnel deployed in war zones outside their home province (most
military and police are from Java, but are stationed in areas
such as Aceh and Papua) will be raised from Rp 12,500 to Rp
15,000 in January, 2003.