Fuel subsidy savings go to poor students
Fuel subsidy savings go to poor students
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of National Education, which has
secured Rp 673.4 billion from the state's fuel subsidy reduction,
will spend most of the funds in financing the education of 3.6
million poor students.
Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin announced on
Thursday that some of the Rp 608.4 billion would also be
allocated to 3,500 elementary schools, 2,030 junior high schools
and 685 senior high schools all over the country that needed to
improve their educational facilities. The fund would cover the
recipients' needs for a six-month period.
"The students and the schools will receive the support in
September," he said.
He pledged that the disbursement and use of the aid would be
closely monitored by his ministry, the project's regional
committee and also the public.
The government reduced the fuel subsidy last month.
Addressing the participants of a workshop at his office, Yahya
added that the project would be integrated with the ministry's
annual social safety net, which gives scholarships and supports
schools' operations for the poor.
Those to receive the special funds are limited to students
from first-grade to fourth-grade at elementary schools, and the
first-grade students of junior and senior high schools.
Students of the other grades are recipients of the ministry's
social safety net program.
The ministry has earmarked Rp 60,000 for each of the 2.2
million elementary students, while each of the 1 million junior
high school students will receive twice that amount. A total of
400,000 high school students will get Rp 150,000 each.
Another Rp 15 billion from the fuel subsidy savings will also
be allocated to 8,600 selected poor university students and more
than 7,200 others who have been victims of rioting or conflicts
occurring in several regions of the country.
The remaining Rp 50 billion will be disbursed to students and
tutors of the government's informal education that is offered to
illiterates and also as support for street children.
However, Yahya said, the ministry was still looking for the
right target and the right institution to manage and to oversee
the allocation of the funds for the street children, since there
had yet to be reliable data on their numbers.
"We're still working with the National Board of Social Welfare
(BKSN) and non-governmental organizations concerned with the
issue to find a way of measuring this systematically," he told
journalists.
He also revealed that another Rp 160 billion of the fuel
subsidy savings that had been earmarked for the ministry of
religion would also be integrated into the program to help
finance 819 Islamic schools and their students.
"Hopefully this program will continue in January 2002 as there
are still more than 1 million students who have dropped out of
school, either because they cannot afford it or because they live
in conflict-torn regions," Yahya remarked.
The state budget for education for the year of 2001 is Rp 13
trillion. (bby)