Markus Makur and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Timika, Semarang | Thu, 12/18/2008 11:23 AM
Students in remote areas of Mimika regency, Papua, and those attending state-run elementary and junior high schools in Central Java will enjoy free education starting next year, officials say.
Mimika Regent Klemen Tinal on Wednesday said his administration was planing boarding school for students in remote areas, which would be divided into two regions: mountainous and coastal.
He said a boarding school would be established in Jila district to accommodate students from mountainous regions, while the old city of Kokonao, the capital of West Mimika district, would be revived as an education center for the coastal region.
The same pattern, he added, would be applied in Timika City and three other districts, making use of boarding schools built seven years ago.
Speaking at a technical working meeting at the Mimika Education and Teaching Agency in Timika, Klemen said better planning would replace the old education system which had failed to educate children in remote areas.
He said the administration would prioritize the regency's eight least developed districts -- West Mimika, Central West Mimika, Far East Mimika, Far West Mimika, Jita, Jila, Agimuga and Central East Mimika -- next.
"With this, teachers in Mimika will be retrained," said Klemen, who is in his second term of office.
Klemen said the regency administration would improve the salaries of teachers assigned to remote areas, providing them with sufficient facilities including housing.
However, he also said free education would only be provided to students of state-run schools.
For those at private schools, we need to talk with the schools' managements," he added.
Separately in Semarang, Central Java, the School Operational Aids' (BOS) management team secretary, Indiarto Edi Cahyono, announced that all state-run elementary and junior high school students in the province would not have to pay school fees in 2009.
"The schools have to be free because they are receiving operational fees from the central government," Indiarto said.
He said the 2009 BOS for elementary schools, including the ones for people with disabilities, would be Rp 400,000 (US$36) per student per year in municipalities and Rp 397,000 in regencies. It was previously Rp 254,000.
For junior high schools, including for people with disabilities, the 2009 will be Rp 575,000 per student per year in municipalities and Rp 570,000 in regencies, which previously was only Rp 354,000, Indiarto said.
"That excludes the Rp 22,000 aid per student per year for the textbooks provided for 24 regencies (out of the province's 35 municipalities and regencies)," Indiarto added.
He said the government was responsible for monitoring operational fees applied by private schools to make sure students from poor families did not have to pay excessive school fees.
