Sutiyoso exempts students from exam fees
Sutiyoso exempts students from exam fees
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso has signed a circular
exempting students of elementary and junior high schools, both
private and state, from having to pay exam fees.
The circular, dated April 16, was only made available to the
media on Friday. It stated that students of state-run Madrasah
Ibtidaiyah Islamic elementary schools and Madrasah Tsnawiyah
Islamic junior high schools would also be able to take their
final exams without having to pay.
Issuance of the regulation has ended months of uncertainty
after the government revealed in February a plan to scrap the
exam fees.
In the past, an elementary school student was obliged to pay
Rp 32,000 (US$3) to sit the exams, while the exam fees for a
junior high school student cost between Rp 44,375 and Rp 52,000.
The circular maintained that exam fees would still be imposed
on senior high school students, which cost between Rp 68,300 and
Rp 81,000.
Sutiyoso said in the circular that the subsidy for the
elementary and junior high school students would come from the
State Budget and the City Budget. However, he did not elaborate
on the proportion each administration would contribute.
The governor had said the city would need an extra Rp 6.5
billion in order to exempt the students from any fee in the
upcoming school examinations. The city administration had
allocated Rp 3 billion from its current budget to provide
subsidies for the students.
Deputy Governor for People's Welfare Djailani said the city
administration expected the public to report any violation of the
new regulation. He added that the circular had been distributed
to related schools.
"All schools in the capital must comply with the regulation.
We will not hesitate to take action against schools which violate
it," Djailani said after Friday prayers.
Djailani was commenting on reports that some elementary
schools charged their sixth grade students exam fees.
Antara reported that a state elementary school in Mayestik,
Kebayoran Lama district in South Jakarta, had required students
who will sit in the final exams to pay Rp 400,000 each.
Chairperson of the school's Student Parents Association,
Poppy, confirmed the fees. She said the levy would be used to buy
meals for students and teachers during the exams, as no food
grocers would be allowed to open during the examination days.
Some of the funds would also be disbursed to purchase stationery
and print copies of the exam materials.
According to the City Education Agency, there are a total of
141,742 students in elementary schools due to sit the state final
exams, scheduled to be held from June 11 to June 13. They
comprise 97,654 public school students and 44,088 private school
students.
Jakarta has 2,423 public elementary schools and 2,248 private
elementary schools.
The elementary schools also include the state-run Madrasah
Ibtidaiyah Islamic elementary schools, while the private
institutions include private Islamic schools.
The city currently has 283 state junior high schools and 761
private junior high schools, with 141,160 third-grade students
who would join the state final exams. (jun)