West Java DPRD Firmly Rejects Proposal to Reintroduce School Fees in State Schools
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDUNG — Ono Surono, Deputy Speaker of the West Java Regional Parliament (DPRD Jabar), has rejected a proposal to reintroduce the Education Development Contribution (SPP) at state schools. According to him, the state is obliged to guarantee twelve years of free education, so school funding needs must not be passed on to the public.
Ono said the government’s attention should instead be on ensuring that the West Java Provincial Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) is able to meet all the needs of state schools. These needs include the construction of classrooms, laboratories, sports facilities and places of worship, as well as operational costs and teacher welfare.
“The focus should not be on collecting SPP from the public, but on how the West Java Provincial APBD can meet all the needs of state schools. From classrooms, laboratories, sports facilities and places of worship through to operational needs and teacher welfare — all of these must be the government’s responsibility,” Ono said in Bandung on Friday (17/7/2026).
He stressed that the law mandates an education budget allocation of at least 20 per cent of both the state budget (APBN) and regional budgets (APBD). For that reason, he considered that the West Java Provincial Government must prioritise fulfilling the facilities, infrastructure and operational needs of state schools without reviving the SPP policy.
According to Ono, limited educational facilities cannot be used as a reason to impose charges on parents. Such problems should instead be resolved by strengthening the government’s budgetary commitment to the education sector.
Ono also criticised suggestions that SPP would only be levied on people in deciles 6 to 10. In his view, this approach does not fully reflect the real economic conditions of the population, because problems with the accuracy of welfare data remain common.
“People in deciles 6 to 10 do not necessarily have strong economic capacity. In fact, there are still many poor residents who do not receive social assistance, or whose BPJS health insurance has even been deactivated because of data validity problems,” he said.
In addition to strengthening state schools, Ono encouraged the regional government to increase support for private schools. Such assistance is considered important so that private schools can improve the quality of their educational services without passing all costs on to students.
He expressed hope that the proposal to reintroduce SPP at state schools would not proceed into policy. According to him, the more urgent step is to ensure the education budget can meet schools’ needs while guaranteeing the public’s right to a decent education.
“I hope the proposal to reintroduce SPP at state schools is not pursued. What matters more is ensuring the education budget genuinely addresses all the needs of schools in West Java,” he said.