Govt spells out education allocation

The Jakarta Post ,  Surabaya   |  Fri, 11/14/2008 11:01 AM  |  East Java

The provincial government has announced that it will allocate a larger portion of the education budget (20.4 percent of the total) for impoverished students, education infrastructure, vocational schools and improvement of teachers' competence and social welfare.

Head of the secondary education section at the provincial education and culture agency, Asri Harijati, said that of the Rp 1 trillion budget (US$84.7 million), Rp 86.7 billion would be distributed as special financial aid for the poor but talented students in senior high schools.

"They can all apply for scholarships that will ensure they complete 15 years of education," she told a roundtable discussion here on Wednesday.

The provincial government will also revive vocational technology, agriculture, fishery and forestry schools to produce ready-for-hire graduates for the corresponding sectors.

"We have allocated RP 15.7 billion to revive the closed vocational high schools, Rp 7.3 billion for quality improvement, Rp 17.9 billion for facility and lab procurements and Rp 10 billion for building rehabilitation," said Asri.

She added that Rp 7.5 billion would be used to improve the qualifications of vocational school teachers and Rp 24.1 billion to provide incentives for non-permanent teachers.

Regarding the school operation aids (BOS), Asri said each elementary student would receive Rp 33,000 per month, each junior high school student Rp 48,000 per month and each senior high school student Rp 65,000 per month.

All students, regardless of their level, will also receive Rp 12,000 each in financial aids for textbook procurement. "But this is only effective for state-run schools," she added.

There will also be scholarships available for all students from both state and private schools.

From the budget, each eligible elementary school will receive Rp 381,000 per year, each junior high school Rp 531,000 per year and each senior high school Rp 780,000 per year.

She added that a bigger portion of the budget was allocated to widen access to education for all, improve the quality of education and enhance cultural resilience.

Chairman of the East Java Education Board Zainuddin Maliki appreciated the government's political commitment to develop the education sector, saying a quality education was indeed costly.

He said the provincial government should invest in the sector for long-term changes to improve the province's dignity in the future.

"Top priorities must be given to education to catch up with developed countries and win the globalization race," he said.

Djoko Sarwono, an education expert of the Malang State University, concurred and said Indonesia faces the challenge of building quality human resources to allow the country to play a bigger role on the international stage.

"Both formal and non-formal education programs must be intensified to reform our damaged society and make revolutionary changes in the country's national products," he said.

Chairman of the provincial planning and development board, Hadi Prasetyo, criticized the government's education policy as discriminatory, because it not touch private schools, most of which were also still in poor condition.

"We can not turn a blind eye to private schools in rural and remote areas. They need greater attention from the government if it is committed to improving the quality of human resources nationwide," he said. (Ridwan Max Sijabat)

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