'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)