Government pledges to give emphasis on education

Government pledges to give emphasis on education

JAKARTA (JP): In an effort to improve the quality of
Indonesia's human resources, the government will place more
emphasis on the development of national education in the next
fiscal year, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on
Monday.

Megawati said that from government revenues of Rp 243 trillion
(US$28.5 billion) in the next fiscal year, some Rp 7.3 trillion,
or 3.3 percent, will be allocated for the development program in
culture and education.

"The funds will be used to support the compulsory nine-year
basic education program, scholarships and improvement of
teachers' professionalism and education facilities," she said,
while reading the draft 2001 state budget at the House of
Representatives' plenary session.

She said the government was designing a new program to reform
the national education system at all levels, including its
financing.

According to the draft budget, the government will allocate Rp
2.7 trillion for development programs in the social welfare,
health and women empowerment sector; Rp 2.3 trillion for
agricultural, and Rp 4 trillion for the transportation sector.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung called on the
government to pay serious attention to the poor educational
system, pointing out that the education budget in Indonesia was
the lowest in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
countries.

"The human resources problem deserves our serious attention.
It is now time for the education sector to gain adequate
attention.

"The government should increase the state budget for the
education sector to improve the nation's competitiveness in the
world," he said in his opening address to the plenary session.

Akbar said after the session that the government could no
longer simply insert the education program into the social and
service sector, but must make it a priority in the next
development program.

"The educational paradigm must be changed and the education
budget must be increased to at lest 20 percent of government
revenues, or around 5 percent of the gross domestic product
(GDP)," he said.

The recent fourth National Education Convention, attended by
education experts and government officials, proposed 25 percent
of the state budget, or 5 percent of the GDP, for the education
sector in the 2001 fiscal year.

The government has allocated a total of Rp 11 trillion for
education, including routine spending, in fiscal year 2000.

Akbar said improvement in the education sector was needed
urgently to meet the upcoming free trade era -- AFTA (ASEAN Free
Trade Area) in 2004 and APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation)
in 2010.

"Indonesia will be a haven for foreign professionals if we are
unable to improve the quality of human resources within the next
five to 10 years," he warned. (rms)