Kids without ID denied education

Agnes Winarti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 07/04/2008 11:08 AM  |  City

Many parents on low incomes have problems enrolling their children in state elementary schools because they do not have the required birth certificates, family cards or parent ID cards.

A team of NGOs that set up several service posts throughout the city to facilitate parents with state elementary school matters received a total of 57 complaints. They were mostly about procedural problems in enrolling their children.

"Every year during the school admission period, such cases occur. More parents are interested in sending their children to school, but the government does not support them by providing easy access," said head of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) public services monitoring division Ade Irawan on Thursday.

"The government does not exercise its authority when it comes to making education accessible to poor children."

He was speaking to a media conference on the short-term results of the service posts established last June by NGOs, including the Alliance of Parents for Education, the Suara Ibu Peduli, and the Institution of Education for Marginalized Children (LAPAM).

"From most of the 27 reports filed by parents living in slum areas in Kalibaru, Koja and Rawa Badak Selatan in North Jakarta, we found that children were rejected from schools mostly because they didn't have birth certificates," said LAPAM field coordinator Fitriani Sunarto.

Fitriani said families in slum areas, like North Jakarta, could be charged up to Rp 300,000 in illegal fees for getting ID cards and birth certificates made as many were unaware how much should be charged.

She said the fees discouraged parents from getting the documents made.

"The government shouldn't let a child's right to education be obstructed just because he or she doesn't have a birth certificate."

Parents have not had to pay any fees to send their children to state elementary and junior high schools in Jakarta since 2005.

"Children rejected from state schools might be accepted in more expensive private schools, but they could probably only afford the first one to six months," Fitriani said.

Ade said besides the administrative requirements, some other children were also charged with illegal fees of between Rp 200,000 and Rp 1 million by schools claiming to use the funds for the purchase of uniforms and books.

The organization also found that some schools charged parents illegal fees to admit their child if they could not present necessary documents.

According to a 2007 gubernatorial decree and an official Jakarta elementary education agency letter, state elementary and junior high schools are not allowed to collect money from parents for any reasons. Some schools charge parents for uniforms, text books or enrollment.

However, many uninformed parents still regard text books and uniform fees normal.

The group of NGOs has tried to advocate parents negotiating with schools, but many are reluctant to do so because they fear their children will be discriminated against.

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