Free Private School Payment Every Six Months Draws Criticism
The Free Private School Initiative (RSSG), which makes payments every six months, has received complaints from foundation owners or school principals whose cash flow is limited.
This was conveyed by Depok DPRD member Ubaidila from the PKS faction, even posting it on his personal Instagram at @ubaidilahaja.
When confirmed, Ubai, as he is known, revealed that he received complaints regarding the RSSG payment mechanism every six months.
According to Ubai, for schools with secure cash flow, payments every six months do not affect covering monthly operations.
“But for the majority of schools (participating in RSSG), they are mostly mid-to-lower level schools, where financial capacity is very limited, so when payments are every six months,” said Ubai when confirmed on Thursday, 19 March 2026.
According to Ubai, not all schools participating in the RSSG programme are open about operational challenges due to the six-monthly payments, leading them to borrow money and take various measures to maintain monthly cash flow.
“Many are indeed not open about it. Coincidentally, a few days earlier, I visited one school in Limo sub-district, where there happened to be a junior high school and a madrasah. I met the two principals there, and they expressed that issue, but of course, if mentioned, they fear being reprimanded,” explained Ubai.
Therefore, this councillor from the Beji, Cinere, and Limo electoral district immediately raised the problem in a meeting with the Local Government Budget Team (TAPD) of Depok City.
“I conveyed it to the TAPD, with Mr Secretary, Mr Head of Bappeda, Mr Dadang, so that it becomes a concern,” explained Ubai.
“It would be best if like BOS, at the beginning, around January-February. Well, it should be like that or at least not six months, minimum three months at least,” he added.
Ubai assessed that the TAPD responded positively, even stating they would study the payment scheme for three months. However, he does not yet know the follow-up.
“What is certain is that I conveyed that the programme is good in terms of the students. But this programme should not sacrifice the schools, especially those with poor cash flow,” stated Ubai.
Ubai said that in terms of the regional budget structure, payments every three months are possible because they have been prepared for the coming year.
“It just depends on when to execute it. Yes, because the planning has been done a year in advance. It has been finalised. It just depends on the government’s intention to accelerate it, to prioritise it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Depok City Education Office, Wahid Suryono, and the Head of the Junior High School Development Division of the Depok Education Office, Muhammad Yusuf, have not yet responded to Tempo’s confirmation attempts.