Higher education budget sought
Higher education budget sought
JAKARTA (JP): The City Council urged the city administration
on Saturday to increase the allocated budget for the renovation
of state elementary schools.
Siti Maryam Achmad, secretary of the City Council's Commission
E, which oversees welfare affairs, said the existing budget
allocated by the administration is very limited. It is not enough
to renovate the 103 schools in need of work.
"The 103 school buildings badly need renovating. The funds
allocation by the administration for the 1995/1996 fiscal year,
however, reach only Rp 2.8 billion (US$1.27 million) or enough to
finance the renovation of only 10 schools," Siti told The Jakarta
Post.
She said if the city administration fails to increase the
budget, it will take about 10 years to complete the renovation of
all the 103 schools.
Siti reiterated that speeding up the renovations is important
to promote the learning process in the schools.
"Due to the poor condition of the school buildings, many
students are forced to borrow other buildings and study in the
afternoon," she said, adding that the students are not
comfortable in the unfamiliar surroundings.
Accelerating the renovations, she said, is vital
to make the nine-year compulsory education program a success. The
government program aims to improve the country's human resources.
The lack of renovating funds was uncovered by officials of the
City Education and Teaching Office in a hearing with members of
the City Council recently.
The fund shortage forces the office to give priority to the
worst school buildings.
The 10 elementary schools to be renovated this year are SDN
Pulogebang 01/16, SDN Cipinang Muara 01/102, SDN Batu Ampar
02/03, SDN Batu Ampar 04, SDN Kapuk 01/02, SDN Tanah Sereal
01/02, SDN Cilandak Barat 01, SDN Tanjung Barat 01, SDN Cipulir
09/10 and 03/04.
Siti also urged the city administration to set aside more
funds for the routine maintenance of the buildings.
"The routine maintenance is expected to prevent big damage to
the schools," she said, acknowledging that the maintenance budget
has been raised regularly but is still far from adequate. (yns)