West Java Provincial Government Launches Jabar Sakola Programme to Make Private-School Fees Free
Bandung (ANTARA) - The West Java Provincial Government has launched a new education initiative, the Jabar Sakola Programme (PJS), which waives tuition fees at private schools and funds personal needs for disadvantaged pupils in an effort to reduce the region’s school dropout rate.
Mohammad Ibrahim, head of the West Java Education Department’s Tikomdik technical unit, said the programme had been carefully designed by cross-checking prospective recipients against the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) to ensure assistance reaches the right people and does not duplicate central government schemes such as the Smart Indonesia Programme (PIP) or the Family Hope Programme (PKH).
“We hope that, through this opportunity, we can all understand and implement the Governor’s policy programme as well as possible, so that educational assistance is truly felt by the pupils who need it,” Ibrahim said in Bandung on Thursday.
Ai Nurhasan, head of the Education Department’s Senior Secondary Education Division, added that branch offices in all 13 areas of West Java had been instructed to conduct on-the-ground verification of beneficiaries.
According to the West Java Education Department, the programme covers senior secondary schools, vocational schools and special-needs schools, and comprises four main forms of assistance:
PJS Personal: Assistance with personal needs, including uniforms, books and transport costs, for pupils from vulnerable households in the lowest welfare decile (Decile 1) who are not covered by PKH or PIP, to help prevent them from leaving school.
PJS Operational: Annual tuition-fee waivers or reductions for Year 11 and Year 12 pupils at private senior secondary and vocational schools in Deciles 1 and 2, as well as for all pupils at private special-needs schools regardless of economic decile.
PJS Partner Private Schools (SSK): Education donation (DSP) funding and monthly tuition subsidies for pupils at private senior secondary and vocational schools partnered with the West Java Provincial Government, starting from the New Student Admissions process (SPMB).
PJS Industry Partners: Full three-year education scholarships at SMK Mitra Industri Bekasi, intended to prepare pupils for employment.
Ai said the four schemes would help ensure that no children in West Java were forced to leave school because of financial difficulties.
The education scholarship programme’s transformation was presented at a briefing held at the West Java Education Department in Bandung on Thursday (1 October), attended by representatives from all 13 regional branch offices.