'Govt money won't reach students'

The Jakarta administration is planning to provide free education for all elementary and junior high school students by giving more money to cover their operational expenses. The Jakarta Post interviewed residents about their thoughts on the issue.

Kuswanto, 39, is a civil servant at a district office in South Jakarta. He lives with his wife and children in Srengseng Sawah, also in South Jakarta.

It is good news, I think no matter how small additional government contributions to the education are, they always benefit low-income families like ourselves. However, looking back at our history, I doubt that the program can be free of corruption.

As a civil servant, I have first-hand experiences on corruption by schools. Besides, there are already many reports that at least one school -- in this case its principal and teachers -- keep for themselves money allocated for poor students.

The government should be aware of these practices, and establish a really independent body to monitor the disbursement process.

Ibrahim, 41, is an employee of a tutorial agency in Tebet, South Jakarta. He lives with his wife and children in Cibubur, East Jakarta.

My office has cooperated with several schools in Jakarta to help them upgrade their students' knowledge to be ready for final exams. We charge them just Rp 30,000 per student but most principals charge the students Rp 40,000 each. So, they take Rp 10,000 for themselves for each student taking the exams.

With these experiences, I do not believe that money from the government can reach the students as principals or teachers will embezzle the money. I believe that if the money were used for school purposes, half of it must have gone to the principals' pockets.

I think the government should take harsh actions against principals or teachers that embezzle money so that others will think twice about doing the same thing. -- The Jakarta Post