Teachers' textbook scams increase fees, dropouts
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung
Some 30,000, or three percent of all elementary and junior high students in Lampung province, are forced to drop out of school each year due to the ever-increasing cost of education, particularly school fees and books.
Teachers have also played a key role in pushing the dropout rate up via a dubious book-selling system.
The secretary of the Indonesian Teachers Dignity Forum (FMGI), Gino Vanolie, said that book procurement had become a profit- oriented scheme perpetrated by teachers in elementary and junior high schools, creating an insurmountable burden for many students and their families.
Students are being forced to buy textbooks from teachers, when they actually could borrow them from older students or from the school. "We also found out that students were forced to leave school because they were ashamed when teachers asked them to pay for the registration fees they couldn't afford. Such fees could reach Rp 300,000 to Rp 400,000 per student," said Gino.
Nine-year-old Ersa, a third grader at an elementary school in North Telukbetung area in the city of Bandarlampung, said that she was too embarrassed to go to school because she had not paid the registration fees. "The teacher also forced me to buy the books from him," said Ersa.
Rony, 40, the parent of a girl studying at an elementary school in West Tanjungkarang, Bandarlampung city, acknowledged that his daughter was once suspended for not paying for books. "There were 10 in her class that were sent home," said Rony.
Many schools have even begun renting books to pupils, Gino, who is also a teacher, acknowledged. "Textbook rentals have also burdened poor parents. Students will not be allowed to attend classes if they don't rent the textbooks," said Gino, who also teaches at High School No. 10 in Bandarlampung.
The head of the Lampung Education Office, Chaerul Thabranie, said that the amount of assistance allocated for needy students by the provincial administration was not enough to cover the cost of retaining potential dropouts.
Lampung currently has over 900,000 elementary and junior high school students.
For 2004, the office has allotted Rp 47.464 billion (US$5 million) to help students at risk of dropping out of school through the Special Assistance for Students (BKM) program.
A total of Rp 28.6 billion (US$3 million), or 60 percent, is allocated for elementary to high school education, Rp 12.7 billion or 27 percent for higher education, Rp 4.5 billion (9.5 percent) for sports and Rp 1.5 billion (3.2 percent) for cultural programs.
In the initial stage of the program, Rp 33 billion of the funds, derived from the fuel subsidy scheme, will be provided directly to the students.
The amount of subsidy allocated for each needy student is Rp 120,000 for elementary school, Rp 240,000 for junior high and Rp 300,000 for senior high.