Mega slams parties pledging free education

Mega slams parties pledging free education

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri criticized on Wednesday
political parties promising free education, saying that there was
no such thing as free or cheap education.

"We all know that education is expensive, so it is just
unrealistic when some people offer free or cheap education,"
Megawati said during a ceremony to mark National Education Day on
Wednesday.

Some political parties, including the Prosperous Justice Party
(PKS), promised to provide free or cheap education during the
campaign for the April 5 legislative election.

"Such promises are false," Megawati said.

The government, according to Megawati, was trying to fulfill
its obligation under the 1945 Constitution to allocate at least
20 percent of the State Budget to the education sector.

"But I know even that is not enough. Parents have to pay a lot
more than the amount the state allocates to finance the education
of their children," Megawati said.

Financing has always been a major problem for schools, with
many facing difficulties in funding the compulsory nine-year
education scheme.

The government has said it has been trying to increase the
budget allocation for the education sector since 2001 but has so
far only managed to allocate around 20 percent of development
expenditure on the sector.

"With our budgetary constraints, only those with money can
afford a good education, while the poor cannot afford to send
their children to school and thus they end up having to work as
unskilled laborers," Megawati said.

The President appealed to reputable and private schools to
provide scholarships for those who had the talent but could not
afford to go to school.

"Through this forum I would like to ask these educational
institutions to provide scholarships for those who are talented
but cannot afford education. I would also ask for the rich to
cross-subsidize the poor so that their children can go to
school," she said.

"It would be wrong for educational institutions to only think
about profit and ignore their responsibilities to educate the
people," she added.

Megawati also said that the government would try to increase
budget funding for the education sector in the coming years.

Meanwhile, Minister for National Education Malik Fadjar
stressed the importance of encouraging competition among
students.

"In the globalization era, our young people will have to
compete with their peers from around the globe, and so we have to
set standards so that our children can compete," the minister
said.