Students forced to buy books featuring Megawati, Sukarno
Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap, Central Java
Elementary and junior high school students in Central Java have been "asked" to buy exercise books bearing the pictures of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, former president and Megawati's father Sukarno, Regent Probo Yulastoro and legislative council speaker Fran Lukman.
The call, issued by the local education office, has angered parents and school principals, as well as other residents. Many believe the call to buy the books is connected with next year's general election.
Megawati's Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) dominated the 1999 election in Cilacap, one of its strongholds in the province.
Each student in the regency has been exhorted to buy a pack of four exercise books for 5,000 (58 US cent). The covers of the exercise books are red -- the color of the PDI Perjuangan.
Currently, there are some 290,000 elementary and junior high school students in the regency.
Most parents are outraged by the policy, calling the move "unethical and politically motivated".
"They should focus on policies that make sense. We have spent a lot of money on our kids' schools," said Wati, the mother of an elementary and a junior high school student.
Meanwhile, many principals complained about the policy although they admitted they were unable to reject it outright for fear of being punished by their superiors.
Triono, who heads state elementary school SDN 8 Sidanegara, said he was ordered to buy 1,000 books for his 240 students. However, he managed to bargain this down to half the number.
"I obeyed the order to show my loyalty. But I was able to get them to reduce the figure to only 500 books as I didn't want to place any additional burdens on the parents. This whole thing has sparked a lot of anxiety among parents," he said.
Responding to the complaints, local education agency director Soetoyo MS claimed that the purchase of the exercise books was not mandatory.
"The aim is to introduce our national and local leaders to the students. That's the philosophical background. We are not requiring students to buy the books," he told reporters over the weekend.
Separately, Regent Probo said his administration had never instructed local schools, or their students, to buy the books.
He said the project had been initiated and was managed by the Sukarno Center Foundation in Cilacap, which did not come under the control of his administration.
"We never instructed the education agency to order schools or parents to buy the books. It's voluntary, so there's no problem if a school's management refuses to take them," he told reporters. He said there would be no sanctions imposed on schools rejecting the books.
Meanwhile, Rujimanto, who heads the Sukarno Center Foundation, admitted that his organization had printed one million exercise books and was working together with the education agency to sell them.
However, he denied allegations that the exercise books were part of a political campaign in support of the PDI Perjuangan.
The foundation's offices are located in the same building as the offices of the PDI Perjuangan's Cilacap chapter.
Rujimanto said the books had been marketed since last week after the approval of the education agency had been secured during a recent meeting that had also been attended by all elementary and junior high school principals from across the regency.