School 'donations' may be capped

JAKARTA: The City Council has said it would propose that Governor Sutiyoso revoke Decree No. 643/1995 in order to limit the amount of money collected by schools from parents.

"The Council's Commission E has agreed to recommend the revocation of the gubernatorial decree on the guideline of the Education Implementation Assisting Board (BP3)," said Audi Tambunan, secretary of the commission, recently.

He said the revocation proposal was in response to complaints by the public that the board raised huge amounts of "obligatory donations" from new students.

Similar grievances were also aired during a meeting of the Commission E, when the recommendation was agreed.

The proposal also followed the fact that the BP3 in question was already replaced by the School Committee, but the decree, which is used as a guideline for the committee's operations, is still in force.

Under the decree, the donations collected from new students are determined on the basis of agreements between schools and the School Committee.

It excludes the role of the Jakarta elementary and higher education office in the agreements, prompting schools to collect donations from parents in term of amounts without consulting or negotiating with city officials.

"There should be a maximum amount that can be raised from parents. Related authorities should be put in charge of dealing all aspects of the arrangement too," another Commission E member Syamsidar Siregar said. --Antara