'Stop burdening students'

'Stop burdening students'

JAKARTA (JP): The city office of the Ministry of Education and
Culture has instructed all headmasters in the capital to cease
forcing students to buy particular brands of school uniforms and
accessories.

Head of the office Alwi Nurdin told reporters here on Thursday
that schools had been ordered to let students and parents decide
what to buy on their own.

"School principals are now barred from taking part in the
distribution and sale of school accessories, such as uniforms,"
he said.

"It is the students' and parents' own choice," Alwi told a
media conference.

Schools only have the right to decide on the color and design
of school uniforms, he added.

"Students are no longer obliged to wear new uniforms, they can
use their brother's or sister's," he said.

The new policy has also banned schools from forcing students
to buy books other than compulsory texts," Alwi said.

He said the new policy applied to all schools in Jakarta and
had been introduced to help lighten the financial burden on
Jakarta families during the economic crisis.

Last year parents across the country were angered after
schools attempted to force their children to buy shoes from
private shoe company PT Aryo Nusa Pakarti which is owned by Ari
Sigit, the eldest grandson of former president Soeharto.

The move, which was allegedly approved by the Ministry of
Education and Culture, received sharp criticism and was postponed
after Soeharto himself expressed his displeasure at the
arrangement.

He also told parents not to worry about the availability of
places in the city's elementary, junior and senior high schools.

"There are more than enough," Alwi said.

An estimated 74,000 places will be left unfilled in elementary
schools after 142,000 new students enter the education system
later this year.

The city will create an extra 39,300 places in junior high
schools and 20,000 in senior high school to accommodate an
expected increase in enrollment, including students who have
returned home from overseas because of the monetary crisis.

Existing junior and senior high school places number 155,188
and 151,983 respectively.

"Given the surplus we have decided that it will be possible to
accept students from outside Jakarta," Alwi said.

He promised this year's computerized entrance test system
would be fairer and more transparent than the previous system.

"The new system will allow the organizing committee to control
the procedure and will help avoid collusion between parents and
teachers," he said.

Alwi also announced that school registration and entrance fees
for poor families would be waived in view of the economic crisis.

Pupils must register for kindergarten, elementary and junior
high school between June 22 and July 4. Student registration for
high school and vocational schools began on April 8 and will end
on June 17.

Students from outside Jakarta and from overseas who wish to
enter junior and senior high schools in the city can register
between June 15 and 17.

The elementary school registration fee is set at Rp 1,750, the
junior high school registration fee is Rp 3,500 and senior and
vocational school registration fees are Rp 4,000. Vocational
schools charge an additional Rp 800 fee for a competency test.
(ivy)