R

esearch conducted by the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) since the National Education System Law was implemented in 2003 showed increased incidences of graft in the education field.

'€œIt can be said that six out of 10 schools misappropriated [education funds],'€ Febri Hendri of ICW'€™s public service monitoring division told a focus group discussion organized by the Satu Karsa Karya Foundation (YSKK) in Surakarta on Sunday.

Febri said the observation was based on information gathered from print and online media. It was found that 296 graft cases resulted in state losses of Rp 619 billion (US$51.69 million). In terms of numbers of cases, the figure did not increase. However, state losses have increased every year.

The modus mostly practiced, Febri said, was embezzlement. Of the 296 cases, 106 were embezzlement cases, of which 50 percent involved school operational aid (BOS) funds and special allocation funds (DAK).

In regards to institutions in which graft was committed, education agencies topped the list with 151 cases, followed by the Education and Culture Ministry.

Febri also said many incidences of graft went unreported due to a lack of evidence or difficulty in accessing education fund reports.

YSKK director Suroto said that an access test conducted in October 2013 on 222 schools in eight provinces on BOS fund management report transparency revealed that 87 percents of schools had refused to give out information regarding the matter.

The test also revealed that East Java, Jakarta and West Java provinces refused to give information on their BOS fund management. In Central Java, Klaten, Sragen and Karanganyar regencies refused to give information on their BOS funds.

'€œIn the three regencies, we got no responses,'€ Suroto said.

Sukoharjo Education Agency secretary Netty Harjianti, meanwhile, denied the accusation that education agencies had misappropriated BOS funds, arguing that there were rules and accountability in the management of BOS funds.

'€œApart from that, the funds are directly transferred to schools'€™ bank accounts, they don'€™t go through the agency at all,'€ Netty said.

Lawmaker Rinto Subekti from the House of Representatives'€™ Commission X overseeing education said allegations that BOS funds had been misappropriated made sense as people did not know how to access information on the management of the funds.