Schools need US$159m in loans

JAKARTA: The Ministry of National Education is seeking soft loans of up to US$150 million to finance the development of vocational schools across the country.

"The loans are meant to finance vocational education across the country in 2005, because we do not have enough money to support the program," Indra was quoted by Antara as saying on Friday.

According to Indra, the ministry would ask for the loans from several international financial organizations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

About 5,000 vocational schools across the country are designed to produce graduates of sufficient caliber to enter the workforce.

Indra said some five million people graduate from the schools every year.

He also said that the funds would be used to set national standards for these vocational schools that could meet the requirements of the country's businesses.

In the 2004 state budget, the ministry had a budgetary allocation of Rp 18 trillion, or around 13 percent of the country's total development budget. -- Antara.