Govt admits failure in education

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government continues to violate the Constitution by failing to allocate 20 percent of the state budget for national education.

However, this constitutional violation carries no legal sanctions, unless lawmakers use it to censure the government -- the President in particular.

Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court ruled the government violated the Constitution when it earmarked just 9.6 percent of the budget for education in 2005.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono acknowledged here on Sunday economic conditions would again prevent the government from allocating 20 percent of next year's budget for education.

However, the education budget will increase to 12 percent of the total state budget in 2006. The government has said it plans to increase the education budget each year so that it is 20 percent of the total state budget by 2010.

During a speech at the close of the UNESCO-sponsored International Conference on Education as a Fundamental Human Right and Finance Framework, Susilo blamed soaring global oil prices for his administration's failure to increase the education budget to 20 percent of the state budget.

"The 20 percent target could not be achieved because we have to allocate so much money for the fuel subsidy due to higher global oil prices. And we also need money for poverty eradication and health care," the President said.

The government raised fuel prices by an average of 126 percent in October to ease the strain on the state budget caused by the massive fuel subsidy.

Susilo pointed out in his speech the government had disbursed Rp 5 trillion (some US$5 billion) for basic education in 2005.

If the government hopes to achieve its goal of providing basic education for at least 95 percent of all children by 2008/2009 and of halving the illiteracy rate among people above the age of 15 within the next five years, it will have to continue to spend more money on education.

"We are determined to create a more educated populace in a more competitive and democratic Indonesia, because human resources determine whether nations win or lose in the era of globalization," Susilo said.

Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo said Indonesia had demonstrated to the world its belief that education is a basic right of all citizens.

"Our national education system requires the government to provide a free education for citizens," he said following the conference's closing ceremony.