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arents have misused their children’s Jakarta Smart Cards (KJP), a funding facility provided by the city administration for elementary and secondary school students, to buy non-school related goods and
services.

A recent finding has shown that some parents have misused the cards in cooperation with vendors to withdraw money using the latter’s electronic data capture (EDC) machines.

The KJP was introduced in 2013 by then Jakarta governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to help underprivileged students procure school-related goods, such as uniforms, books and nutritional foods. Even though the card introduction was criticized by many parties, its implementation has been continued by his successor, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.

The KJP program allocates elementary students Rp 100,000 (US$7.46) per month, junior high students Rp 150,000 and senior high students Rp 200,000, plus Rp 500,000 for each of them at the start of an academic year.

KJP spending is required to be reported to schools, but the reports are prone to being falsified.

Some parents of KJP holders, for example, buy goods from vendors at marked-up prices to obtain extra money. The vendors usually charge 10 percent of the withdrawn money as a fee for their services.

Many vendors of school uniforms and shoes on the first floor of Palmerah Market in Central Jakarta, for example, carry out such cooperation with parents.

“We can help you withdraw money with your younger brother’s KJP without getting noticed by anyone else,” one attendant told The Jakarta Post, adding that her boss was experienced in the practice.

The attendants explained that buyers should buy an item priced at least Rp 50,000 and the price would then be marked up. “The Rp 50,000 price, for example, will be marked up to Rp 150,000, meaning that the KJP holder will get a transaction receipt of Rp 150,000,” she said.

An attendant at a shoe shop tried to justify such an action, saying that the practice was aimed at helping parents who needed money in emergency situations.

Other vendors became furious when asked about the practice, saying that they wanted to avoid trouble.

At the Kebayoran Lama Market in South Jakarta, nearly all vendors showed signs that they facilitated KJP transactions, although not all of them were equipped with EDC machines.

Attendant Tt, 25, said that many parents used the KJPs of their children to buy clothes or other items.

“We, the buyers and sellers, both know it’s unruly but it’s hardly noticeable, unless someone reports it,” she said.

Responding to the violation, Jakarta Governor Ahok said he would allow parents to use the money for other needs as long as the items purchased were for their children. “It is fine if the funds are used to buy food,” he said.

The city administration has held bazaars for KJP holders, offering grocery items such as sugar, oil and beef with at low prices.

Ahok said, however, that the agency needed to monitor spending.

He also did not mind the funds being used to buy clothes for Idul Fitri. “Clothes can increase the confidence of children. It can be stressful for children if they do not have new clothes for Lebaran,” he said.

Jakarta Education Agency official Nahdiana acknowledged that such fraudulent practices had taken place.

“The number of those misusing their KJPs is probably only around 1 percent of the 530,000 KJP holders in the city,” she said. “It’s difficult to monitor them one by one.”

She said efforts had been made to curb such practices, including by limiting the amount of money withdrawn from ATMs and the frequency of fund disbursement to only twice a month. She said the agency had also retracted the cards of the students who had violated the rules and those involved in brawls.

“We, in cooperation with related parties, including traditional market operator PD Pasar Jaya and Bank DKI, will continue to curb such violations. We welcome any input and reports accompanied with strong evidence for the improvement of the services,” she said. (fac)