No free education yet for students

No free education yet for students

Leony Aurora, Jakarta

The government has alleviated some school-related fees borne by
parents this year by eliminating school maintenance and
development fees, but parents are still obligated to contribute
toward operational costs, a city education official said on
Tuesday.

Head of the Jakarta Middle and High School Education Agency
Margani Mustar reminded schools that this year, they could not
charge fees for maintenance and development, which includes
building new classrooms, repairing old ones, constructing fences
and others, which would be covered by the administration.

Agency spokesman Abdul Hamid said schools must instead submit
construction proposals for approval and funding, which would be
decided and disbursed at least by the beginning of the 2005-2006
academic year.

Meanwhile, the agency is preparing a guideline on parental
contributions to schools, which are to have no limit.

"The National Education Law stipulates that education is not
only the responsibility of the government, but parents and the
community as well," said Margani.

Parents may contribute toward operational costs, extra
classes, honorariums for additional teachers and luxuries such as
air conditioners for classrooms.

At the beginning of the academic year, schools draw up
budgets, which are discussed by parents and School Committees to
determine the one-time donation and monthly fees to be paid by
parents.

School Committees were established under Ministerial Decree
No. 044/U/2002, for the purpose of ensuring public involvement in
the management of schools and supervising the use of school
funds.

Last year, many parents lodged complaints, saying that schools
charged exorbitant fees. The City Council proposed at the time
that the administration set a ceiling for parent contributions,
but the proposed policy was not followed up.

Schools receive quarterly funds from the Jakarta
administration, calculated according to student population, to
cover operational costs such as utilities, books and others.

For example, state senior high school 70 in Blok M, South
Jakarta, receives Rp 52 million ($5,831) quarterly, or Rp 208
million annually, for its 1,200-strong student body -- about Rp
175,000 per student.

"How can you expect top-notch education with this amount?"
said Abdul.

The administration has allocated less than 30 percent of its
Rp 11 trillion (US$1.23 million) budget this year toward
education and health.

"There should be a cross-subsidy. School Committees should
find solutions for poor students," asserted Margani. "No students
should drop out of school just because they cannot afford the set
fees."

Abdul said the agency was to conduct a study to determine the
ideal breakdown per student, but did not provide a specific time
frame.