Transparency sought in schoolbook tenders

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikapi) called on the government on Wednesday to make its tenders for schoolbook projects more transparent amid growing criticism of widespread collusive practices.

Ikapi secretary-general Setia Dharma Madjid told a media conference that the association would also propose the establishment of an independent national book council -- comprising experts, publishers and teachers -- to evaluate the selection of books ordered by various government agencies.

The issues would be discussed by a commission on reforming national book policies at Ikapi's three-day national congress which opens on Monday.

The association has come under severe criticism over allegations that some members of the executive board had been working in collusion with officials of the Ministry of Education and Culture in awarding lucrative contracts to publish textbooks for state schools.

The schoolbook projects received huge World Bank funding.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) estimated this week that up to 30 percent of the Rp 1.3 trillion fund from the World Bank for these book projects had been embezzled.

The Ministry of Education and Culture has denied the ICW's accusations.

Indra Djati Sidhi, the director general of primary and secondary education, said on Monday that the bidding process was jointly supervised by the ministry and the World Bank.

Dharma said no one on Ikapi's executive board received commissions for helping certain publishers win contracts.

The bids were open to all publishers and they were widely advertised, he said, adding that Ikapi never meddled in the business of its members.

In the upcoming congress, Ikapi will also propose that the government deregulate the business of publishing school textbooks for state primary schools, which is currently a monopoly of Balai Pustaka, the state-run publishing company.

The 14th Ikapi congress takes place at a time when the publishing industry has been battered by the economic crisis.

Many of the 470 members of the association have been struggling to stay afloat, and even big publishers have been publishing far fewer books than they did last year.

The congress, with the theme "National Book Industry Gearing For the Globalization Era", will also hear addresses from Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono and economist Sri Mulyani. (01)