Parents report school principal over fees

Parents report school principal over fees

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City Council Commission E on people's welfare has ordered an
investigation into a report on illegal fees and an unauthorized
increase in the school fee imposed on students at SMU (state
senior high school) 21, East Jakarta.

"If the report is true, a tough penalty will be imposed on the
headmaster for demanding unauthorized contributions so this will
not become a precedent," Commission E chairman Nazamuddin told a
hearing with the school's principal and with head of the Higher
Education Agency Sukesti Martono on Wednesday.

Commission E held the hearing following a letter of complaint
from parents on the matter. In a letter sent earlier on Tuesday,
parents whose children were first-year students at the school
said the school demanded Rp 5 million (US$588.23) in
contributions from each student. The amount was higher than last
year's Rp 2 million.

They also complained about the increase in the monthly school
fee to Rp 200,000, from Rp 100,000 last year.

"Such an increase was illegal as it has not been approved by
the supervisors of SMU 21," the parents said in a statement
signed by 10 parents who called themselves an "independent team
against the increase in the school fees and contributions."

The 10 parents are Rasyidi, Nur Fauzi, Sunarno, Nur Hasanah,
Gusnani, Lucy Enin, Netty Kustiningsing, Sutrirawati, Diana Laila
and Purnawati Budiarti.

Copies of the statement were also sent to the SMU 21 school
head, the school committee, the head of the East Jakarta
Administrative Court, Indonesia Corruption Watch and the mass
media.

Nazamuddin told Sukesti to address the complaint.

According to Nazamuddin, if the report were true, then the
school had violated guideline No. 65/2003 issued by Sukesti on
parental contributions to schools.

According to the guideline, schools must obtain approval from
Sukesti's office and school supervisors before imposing any fee
or increasing school fees.

Sukesti said that he would seek clarification about the
parents' complaints.

"An administrative sanction will be imposed on any school
principal who violates the regulation, but we must hear their
explanation beforehand," Sukesti told the media after the
hearing.

A similar statement was made by Governor Sutiyoso, who said
that he would punish any subordinate who violated the
regulations.