Jakarta mulls Rp 2.5t for education
Jakarta mulls Rp 2.5t for education
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta will likely allocate some 18 percent, or about Rp 2.5
trillion (US$277.78 million) of its 2005 budget, to the education
sector as the City Council and the administration have nearly
reached agreement on the issue.
"In principle, most of councillors have no objection to the
budget proposal for education," Syamsidar Siregar, a senior
member of the City Council's Commission E on education, health
and people's welfare, said on Wednesday.
She said many of the councillors had demanded the city
allocate 20 percent of its Rp 13.93 trillion budget next year for
the education sector as ruled in the Constitution.
According to the draft of city development plan, the base
document to decide next year's budget, most of the education
money will go to the construction and renovation of school
classrooms.
There are two agencies in the city responsible for education;
the City Basic Education Agency, which has requested funds of Rp
1.6 trillion, and the City Middle and Higher Education Agency,
which has asked for Rp 900 billion.
This year, the education sector was allocated Rp 800 billion
from the Rp 12.26 trillion city budget, or about 15 percent of
the total.
Basic Education Agency head Sylviana Murni said in her report
to Commission E that 1,940 classrooms in kindergartens,
elementary and junior high schools remained in a serious
condition and needed to be repaired.
The proposed budget also puts Rp 278.71 billion toward
subsidizing education for the poor, another Rp 114 billion for a
publicity campaign advertising this, Rp 150 billion for the
improvement of school equipment, and Rp 73.66 billion to improve
the quality of basic education.
Syamsidar said although many councillors had agreed to
allocate a large amount of money to education, they had not yet
agreed on the detail of the programs.
"The councillors will closely look at these programs during
the deliberation of the draft budget," she said.