Private schools delay fee hike plans

JAKARTA (JP): Some private schools in the city have temporarily postponed increasing monthly tuition fees and the upcoming yearly admission payment due to the nation's economic woes.

When contacted by The Jakarta Post over the weekend, the schools' operators vowed to try to maintain the current tariffs unless they had no other option.

Some operators hope wealthy parents can help financially support the students of needy families through a cross-subsidy system and scholarship program.

"But, we are not sure about the plan because we have to keep monitoring the latest developments in the economic situation," a staffer of Pelita Harapan school -- which sets its fees in U.S. dollars -- in Karawaci, Tangerang said.

Pishu Sawlani, the administration head of Gandhi Memorial School in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, was of the same opinion.

"We are really in a jam here because the prices of most school materials, such as paper and books, are already too expensive," Sawlani said.

A member of staff from popular Tarakanita High School in Kebayoran, South Jakarta, commented: "Basically, we want to give the best education we can to the students.

"Education must be reachable for everyone. We are in a situation where we're supposed to help each other. I don't want to see my students being abandoned just because their parents failed to pay the school fees."

The skyrocketing prices of various goods and services, including basic school necessities, may force both private and state schools to increase the prices of their services in order to sustain future operations and maintain staff.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro has warned of the impending fee increases.

"During the current monetary turmoil, a hike is unavoidable. But remember, I have not made an official statement saying that there will be a hike in school tuition fees. I am just saying that it is a possibility," Wardiman said last Tuesday.

According to 1996 data, Jakarta is home to 6,586 schools -- accommodating children from kindergarten to senior high school level -- with a total of 1.7 million students.

A spokesman for the city's education and culture regional office, Hadis Hadianegara, said Saturday that the central government had not made an official announcement allowing school's to jack up fees.

"I can tell you for sure, that there has been no increase in school tuition in the capital," he told the Post.

According to the Pelita Harapan staffer, who asked for anonymity, the school -- which caters for playgroup to senior high students -- has received complaints from the students' parents due to the drastic drop in value of the rupiah against the greenback.

However, none of the students have been pulled out of the school, she said.

"We really want our students to continue their studies here."

The tuition fees at Pelita Harapan, located in the Lippo Karawaci residential and business complex, are currently set at between US$2,000 and $4,000 per student for yearly admission and tuition, depending on their level, the employee said.

Based on yesterday's rate, $4,000 is equivalent to the purchase price of a new Timor sedan.

"We have been able to survive until now mainly due to our strong commitment to providing the best education services for the students."

The Tarakanita staffer, who also asked not to be named, said the school planned to ask for a donation from wealthy parents in order to help the school survive if the economic crisis worsens.

Gandhi Memorial School raised its monthly school fees -- for the first time in five years -- about 50 percent on Feb. 1.

"We did it mainly because we wanted to improve our teachers' remunerations here," Sawlani said.

He said the monthly fee for kindergarten students was set at Rp 150,000 per student compared to the previous rate of Rp 100,000, for example.

"There have been dozens of parents complaining about the hike, especially during this tight economic situation. But after we gave them an explanation about what was happening, they understood it."

Twenty-five percent of Gandhi's 1,000 students have received scholarships, he said.

"Therefore, it is hard for us to survive ... because we have to pay for the scholarships. All this time we have been surviving because of subsidies from our foundation." (edt)