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.