School levies upset Ministry of Education

School levies upset Ministry of Education

JAKARTA (JP): An high-ranking official of the Ministry of
Education will take action against junior and senior state-owned
high schools which are proven to be collecting fees from parents
of new students without discussion with the parents' association.

Director General of Middle and Lower Education Zainal Arifin
Achmady urged the media and students' parents to report if there
are schools imposing levies on new students without consulting
the parents' association.

"The school principals found guilty of abusing their authority
in this matter deserve punishment," Achmady told reporters during
a seminar at the ministry yesterday.

Many parents have complained about so-called "education
contributions" imposed by schools in addition to entrance and
uniform fees. Some of the parents said that they were asked to
pay "contributions" of up to Rp 8 million (US$3,404).

"It's true that funds are needed to provide good education,
but expensive schools don't always mean good education," Achmady
said.

In the city, the entrance fee for junior high school (SMP) is
set at Rp 40,000 and Rp 45,000 for senior high school (SMUN). The
uniform fee at junior and senior high schools for male students
is Rp 55,200 and Rp 66,400 for female students.

Meanwhile, Asrul Chatib, the principal of SMUN 70 senior high
school in South Jakarta denied that his school charges students'
parents any levies in addition to uniforms and entrance fees.

Asrul said his school charges new male students Rp 96,450 and
female students Rp 82,000 for uniforms.

"The price of uniforms is higher than that decided by the
government, since we use better textile materials," Asrul told
The Jakarta Post.

SMUN 70 is among six superior senior high schools in Jakarta.
The other five are SMUN 89, SMUN 68, SMUN 13, SMUN 78 and SMUN
81.

A mother said that she was charged Rp 150,000 by SMUN 70 for
male student uniforms and Rp 135,000 for female student uniforms,
as reported by The Post on Friday.

Asrul denied the charge, saying that it probably came from
people who don't like the school as a superior school.

He acknowledged that many state-run senior high schools have
decided `the amount of contribution', referring to a senior high
school next to his school.

Last year, a school principal, who was also a chairman on a
new student selection committee, opened a registered office in a
hotel and suddenly became a rich man, he added.

He refused to reveal the amount of contributions needed from
students' parents this year.

He said that his school received Rp 90 million (US$38,297)
last year, saying that the highest contribution was only Rp 1
million.

A mother from Ciputat, South Jakarta told The Post yesterday
that she was charged Rp 1 million by a South Jakarta selection
committee for a reserved seat at SMUN 82.

She said that she should have paid Rp 600,000 to SMUN 82,
consisting of Rp 300,000 for her daughter's uniform and Rp
300,000 as a "voluntary contribution".

The South Jakarta selection committee is located at SMUN 70 on
Jl. Bulungan.

Dozens of students' parents flocked to a table set up by the
committee in a classroom, hoping that several empty seats would
be available for their children, even if they had to pay more.

Asrul said that the committee is not under his authority,
adding that his school was only used by the committee. (jun)