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)