Govt to tighten use of educational budget

JAKARTA: Coordinating Minister for Public Welfare Agung Laksono said Monday the government would employ tighter control over the use of the educational budget by establishing an educational supervisory committee led by Vice President Boediono.

“We have established the educational committee to better control the use of the educational budget due to the fact we have significant budget increases for education each year,” he said on the sidelines of a coordination meeting on the 2011 National Development.

The ministry said from Rp 1,229.6 trillion (US$136.49 billion) of the total state budget, the government had allocated Rp 247.9 trillion or 20.02 percent for education. The central government manages only
Rp 89.7 trillion for elementary to university level education and the training of civil servants while the regions manage the rest.

“With such a hefty allocation, we should be more efficient and effective in using the funds,” he said, adding that the use of the educational budget in the regions should be tightly monitored by the head of regional administrations, including governors, regents and mayors. — JP