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Jakarta to arrange free schooling for poor students at 1,000 private schools next year
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Protesters hold a banner that reads “No fees for state and private schools“ during a protest demanding free education at a car-free day event in Jakarta on July 7, 2024. (Antara/Asprilla Dwi Adha)
T
he Jakarta administration plans to arrange for low-income students to attend up to 1,000 private schools for free in the next academic year to prevent them dropping out of education because of financial problems, as the city’s limited public schools often fail to accommodate them.
The policy whereby poor students can be admitted to privately owned educational institutions without them having to spend any money has already been implemented in some 406 junior and senior high schools this year, and the city is set to expand the number of schools involved in the coming year.
The move is possible since the schools in question are in receipt of school operational assistance (BOS) funds from the Jakarta administration, allowing them to accept designated students without the obligation to pay educational fees.
The city’s Education Agency, as well as Legislative Council Commission E overseeing education, concluded last week that authorities should increase the free private school capacity as a large number of children from poor families are failing to secure their basic rights to education, as guaranteed by the country’s Constitution.
Read also: Jakarta to boost contract quota for non-permanent teachers to 2,650
Jakarta's recent new student admissions shows that the city has 71,093 places in public junior high schools; the capacity is barely half the total of 151,164 prospective students.
A similar situation can also be seen at the high-school level, where the capacity of public high schools and vocational high schools stands at 29,559 and 20,130, respectively, far below the total of 139,841 prospective students.
