Businesses 'must support' education

JAKARTA: Local governments should enact bylaws to oblige the industrial sector to contribute their fund to support the national education program in Indonesia, says an education expert.

Arief Rahman raised the idea in response to the Constitutional Court's ruling that the government must comply with the Constitution by allocating 20 percent of the state budget to national education.

""The government lacks specific rules to deliver the mandate. The government needs to translate the mandate into bylaws so that all regions in Indonesia can impose the ruling,"" Arif told The Jakarta Post.

""However, 20 percent is a minimum amount, a region could give more than that with the bylaw,"" he added.

Currently the government allocates more than 9 percent of the state budget to developing education. (JP/09)