Parents, councillors reject principals' study tour

Parents, councillors reject principals' study tour

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The inclusion of at least 38 principals of West Java state senior
high schools (SMU) in an overseas study tour has drawn protests
from parents and councillors, who have demanded the trip be
canceled.

They criticized the educators for lacking sensitivity toward
growing concerns over the high cost of education, which has
further burdened parents in the crisis-riddled country.

The planned overseas trip would only be a waste of money, said
Dana Setia, chairperson of the Bandung Education Council. The
council consists of educators and parents.

"Parents have paid very expensive fees to state schools in
Bandung -- around Rp 2 million each. Many parents have even had
to borrow money so that their children could continue their
education. But they (principals) feel no qualms about going on an
overseas trip on the pretext of a comparative study," she said.

Dana said her office had written to the Bandung legislative
council and the mayor to demand that the "crazy" plan be blocked.

She argued that school budgets did not allocate funds for an
overseas trip by principals. "The money should only be used to
cover operational costs of education that have continued to
increase since the government cut its subsidies."

Sharing a similar view, Endrizal Nazar of Council Commission E
overseeing education, health and social welfare said the planned
trip violated existing procedures.

"The organization of such a trip should have obtained
permission from the mayor, because the program would cause state
educators to take leave of their duties," he said.

Another Commission E member, Yudi Widiana Adia, rejected the
idea that such a study tour would help improve the quality of
education.

He promised the Council would seek a cancellation of the plan.

Bandung education office head Oji Mahroji denied knowing about
the plan and vowed to urge that the trip be dropped.

Bambang Sutrisno, head of public education at the provincial
office of education and initiator of the plan, said the study
tour was aimed at improving the quality of education in West
Java.

The principals are scheduled to visit Singapore, Malaysia and
Thailand from Aug. 20 to Aug. 27, with their expenses paid for by
their respective schools.

At least 24 officials from Bambang will also join the overseas
comparative study, he said. Twenty of the 38 SMU principals are
from schools in Bandung.

Each principal who wanted to join the trip was asked to
transfer Rp 8.5 million to bank accounts belonging to two
officials at the Bandung education office.

The itinerary of the study trip, however, includes visits to
only one school each in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, and
otherwise appears to be dominated by recreational programs like
shopping and tours to the Raffles statue, the Singapore River and
Chinatown in Singapore.

After visiting Singapore, the participants are to leave for
Bangkok to visit West Arun and Pattaya, and see the Tifany Show,
the Bencing Show and the Thai Girls Show.

The principals will fly back to Singapore to visit a school
before continuing on to Malaysia, where one school visit is
planned before a trip to the Genting Highlands, a popular
gambling resort.