Govt plans to demote four school principals

Govt plans to demote four school principals

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is keeping its promise
of taking punitive measures against school headmasters charging
parents fees for various reasons without the city's consent.

The head of the city office of education and culture, Alwi
Nurdin, said Saturday that four public school principals would be
demoted to ordinary teachers.

He said they created illegal fees or charged compulsory
contributions higher than levels the government had set.

The disciplinary move will be taken in response to parent
complaints about the fees which they said were unduly adding to
their financial burdens during times of economic crisis.

Alwi refused to reveal the principals' names or their schools.

"The office will summon and tell them they will become
ordinary teachers," he said.

He said the three junior high school administrators and a
senior high school principal had asked students to pay Rp 120,000
for a compulsory contribution, far higher than the official rate
of Rp 33,500 for junior high school students and Rp 38,500 for
senior high school students.

The schools collect the contributions annually under the
auspices of the Parent-Teacher Association (BP3). The money is
used for, among other things, teachers' welfare, student
activities, school parks and libraries.

The office recently circulated a notice stipulating the
maximum BP3 contributions for all state schools in the capital.

The decision was made based on a recommendation from Governor
Sutiyoso to the office on June 25.

Alwi said that as of Friday the office had received 44
complaints from parents about illegal fees. The complaints, he
said, were examined by a special team established by the office
to monitor such cases.

On Friday, Alwi inspected dozens of state schools. "It's
difficult for us to prove the complaints due to a lack of
evidence," he said.

During the inspection, Alwi found that some schools had
charged illegal fees of between Rp 1,000 and Rp 12,000 for
various purposes, such as to fund student organization
activities.

Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Affairs Djailani told
reporters after opening a kite festival at the National Monument
(Monas) on Saturday that schools should return the money they had
charged illegally.

"There should be no more fees like those for (student)
uniforms, books or donations for school buildings. Schools which
have collected such fees should return the money to their
students," he said. (ind)