East Java allocates Rp 1.1 trillion budget for education in 2009

Wahyoe Boediwardhana ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Surabaya   |  Wed, 10/22/2008 10:52 AM  |  East Java

The East Java legislative council has approved the proposed allocation of 20 percent, or Rp 1.1 trillion (about US$112 million), of the province's Rp 5.6 trillion budget for education in 2009.

Rivo Henardus, a member of Commission E on education and social affairs at the legislative council, said in its recent plenary session the provincial legislature hammered out the draft law which allocated 20 percent of the province's budget for the education sector.

Rivo said Rp 357 billion of the Rp 1.1 trillion fund would be spent by the provincial education office to renovate school buildings and procure education facilities, excluding teaching staff salaries, while another Rp 644 billion would be used for informal education and education-linked training programs.

He said the provincial government should prepare working programs to be financed by the huge education budget, saying the council would closely monitor the budget's spending to minimize irregularities in the future.

"The government will also disclose to the legislative council which education programs will focus on infrastructure rehabilitation and which on the development of primary and secondary education," he said. The provincial education service should be professional in managing the huge education budget, Rivo said.

During the plenary session, the government said it would focus on the implementation of the compulsory nine-year education program, improvement of vocational schools and development of international-standard high schools and universities.

Education expert and lecturer at the Widya Mandala Catholic University Anita Lie downplayed the legislative council's political commitment to education in the province, saying the approved budget was in reality less than one-third of the proposed 20 percent education budget.

Under the Constitution it was mandatory for the education budget to be at least 20 percent of the state budget, excluding the costs of education-linked training programs.

The education budget is against the Constitutional mandate, she said, because the social affairs and training programs were included in the overall budget allocation figures when in fact they should have been separately funded.

"The government should not cheat the public, and also it is not the right time to develop international-standard education institutions when many schools in remote areas do not yet meet the national curriculum," she said, adding it was not easy for local teachers and students to conduct English classes.

Anita urged the government not make education a political commodity and pay lip service to deceive the public.

She said similar to other provinces, East Java was in dire need of professional teachers and education-training facilities to produce qualified graduates to teach in these areas and drive down the high unemployment figure.

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