T

he lack of transparency and accountability in the distribution of the School Operational Aid (BOS) has cost the state billions of rupiah in wasteful spending, corruption watchdogs have said.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said that the distribution of BOS throughout the year had been marked by a redundant mechanism, delays in its disbursement and mismanagement at the school level.

“These problems have led to the siphoning off of billions of rupiah which was probably lost in corruption,” chairman of ICW’s education division Febri Hendri said on Wednesday in a press conference.

For 2011, the government has earmarked Rp 16 trillion (US$1.76 billion) for BOS to support education in elementary and junior high schools in the country.

However, the mechanism of distribution, which requires the central government to transfer the money to regional governments only to be channeled again to schools, has opened the way for corruption.

Febri said that such a mechanism had been abused by officials in local government offices to enrich themselves.

He said that some of the funds had also been channeled as contributions to political parties, especially in run-ups to local elections.

He said that delays in the disbursement of BOS had forced several schools to borrow money from loan sharks often at high interest rates.

“This is against the law but schools have no choice. They are also forced to cook their books to cover up the fact they have had to pay interest. They at times also have to ask students to pay for extra expenses,” Febri said.

The refusal by schools to enforce transparent bookkeeping has also led to problems in the distribution of BOS.

Most of the time, parents of students are left in the dark over how BOS funds will be distributed, he said.

Jumono, a member of an alliance of parents who called for transparency in the distribution of BOS, said that parents of students were blocked from having a say in how the funds should be disbursed.

He also said that teachers had also long been excluded from the process.

“The central government allows this to happen and lets the regional governments abuse the fund or turn a blind eye to mismanagement at the school level,” he said.

Jumono also said that the Education and Culture Ministry seemed to have no clue how to effectively run the program although the program had been running for the past six years.

“It appears that the government just wires the money and leaves the management of the fund to regional governments. They are not supposed to run the program like this because we are talking about the state budget. The government must issue a regulation obliging schools to enlist all stakeholders in managing BOS. But first they should train us how to effectively manage the money,” he said.

ICW has found that an estimated Rp 81 billion (US$8.91 million) from the BOS fund was misused in Buna and Muna regencies in Southeast Sulawesi. The money was spent on purchasing elementary school text books that turned out not to be the right ones for the curriculum.

ICW and the parents’ coalition called on the government to change the mechanism of BOS distribution next year by channelling the money through the provincial governments and completely bypassing the local governments. (msa)