Soaring school registration fees

Soaring school registration fees

From Kompas

State and private junior/senior high schools and vocational schools in a town as small as Purwokerto, Central Java, are charging exhorbitant registration fees for the 2005/2006 school year, some even as much as Rp 15 million.

School committees, which should serve as consultative bodies mediating between the school authorities and parents, are apparently happy to go along with such policies.

A food vendor in the town's traditional market, who sells a portion of fruit salad at only Rp 500, has to pay Rp 2.2 million for have his child admitted to a state vocational school. What about the other children whose parents are even worse off and cannot afford to pay?

The government, which was directly elected by the people, seems unable to do anything about the problem of school fees, which are now set by market mechanisms.

The coordinating minister for the economy once said that if people could not afford to buy gas for cooking, they should buy kerosene instead. Next he will be saying, "If you can't pay high fees, just try to find cheaper schools."

MAULADI SANTOSO Purwokerto, Central Java