Govt provides Rp 200b to build new schools across the country

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has approved construction of 215 new junior high schools across the country this year and allocated Rp 200 billion (US$23.53 million) in block grants for the projects.

Ministry of National Education director general for elementary and secondary education Indra Djati Sidi said on Tuesday 119 schools would be built as soon as possible. They will be constructed in 61 regencies and mayoralties in 21 provinces.

The ministry had shortlisted 745 proposals for new schools. Local education agencies, however, can still try to acquire grants for another 96 school buildings.

"We are prioritizing areas with a low (junior high school) rate of participation," Indra said after signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the heads of education agencies.

Provinces receiving grants include Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (six schools), West Java (12 schools), Central Java (11 schools), East Java (11 schools), South Sulawesi (22 schools), North Maluku (eight schools), and West Nusa Tenggara (five schools).

Funds from the state budget would be used to construct and furnish the schools, the agreement said. Each school would received Rp 750 million for this task, Indra said.

The new schools were expected to have at least nine rooms, six used as classrooms, and a total capacity for 240 students, he said.

Under the MOA, local administrations must oversee the construction and running of the schools -- providing plots of land of at least 6,000 square meters each, recruiting teachers and covering the schools' operational costs. They also had to guarantee the schools would operate for at least 20 years.

"It takes at least six months to construct a school, so we expect the schools to start admitting students in the 2005/2006 academic year," Indra said.

Regental education agencies would decide where the schools were built by identifying priority areas -- those with a junior high school participation rate of lower than 80 percent, those with overloaded schools, or with no junior high schools in a radius of five kilometers.

Teams from the provinces and the ministry will verify these proposals and determine the locations for the schools. After an MOA between a regental agency and the ministry is signed, a school construction committee, comprising representatives of the agencies and the public, will be formed.

The construction of schools depends on public participation, as the project cannot be given to private contractors. A professional consultant, however, should be hired, the MOA said.

Ministry data shows some 3.2 million children aged between 13 and 15 cannot go to school in Indonesia because they families are too poor or it is too far to travel.

Although participation rates in junior high schools have increased -- from 52.85 percent in 1990 to 77.44 percent in 2002 -- the country remains far away from its goal of 95 percent participation in 2008.