Sutiyoso prohibits schools to take admission fees

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has prohibited state schools from demanding fees for new students during the upcoming admissions period.

"During admission, schools must not charge anything, including disguised fees that in the end require students to pay up if they want to be admitted," he said on Thursday.

"The student admission regulations clearly state that new students will only be required to pay 'voluntary contributions' to the schools after they are admitted."

Sutiyoso promised to punish any school administrator who violated the rule, depending "on the severity of the violation".

The government regulation stipulates that a civil servant can be reprimanded for a violation -- ranging from a warning to a dismissal.

He called on the public to help monitor the admissions process to curb possible corruption.

The Jakarta Elementary Education Agency deputy head Maman Achdiyat said the agency had asked school principals not to ask for any fees before Aug. 6.

"We call it a 'clean period'. We require them not to talk about money to parents admitting their children until after the deadline," he said.

Maman claimed that the agency had yet to receive any reports about schools violating the regulation. However, some local newspapers have reported that many state schools had charged parents up to Rp 10 million (US$1,109) for admission of their children.

He explained that the schools could start discussing admission fees with school committees, which are supposed to include parents, to decide upon the amount of their contribution to the school. He added that the contribution amount must be decided upon in the meeting and the parents must agree.

The Jakarta Post contacted two parents who have children in public junior high schools, but they said there had not been an announcement yet on the required admission fees.

"I have been invited to meet with other parents tomorrow (Friday) but I don't know the topic of the meeting," said Rani, a resident of Curug, Tangerang.

Councillor Ahmad Heryawan of Commission E for the people's welfare said school administrators must establish a school committee that accommodates parents with various social backgrounds.

"If the rich people dominate the committee, then the interests of the poor students will not be accommodated. The committee must not make the fees too high or the poor students will not be able to pay," he said.

Heryawan also pointed out that because of the larger state budget for schools this year, the fees/contributions must be significantly reduced.

The Jakarta administration has allocated 17 percent of its budget for education, much higher than the average allocation of other provinces of 3.49 percent nationwide.

I-box Monthly subsidy from city budget for each public junior high school: Annual operational costs : Rp 2,000,000 * School helpers : Rp 1,500,000 Stationery : Rp 500,000 Utility bills : Rp 300,000 Cleaning services : Rp 105,000 *only given once per year

Source: Jakarta Elementary Education Agency