In this photograph taken on April 18, 2013 Indonesian high school students take the national examination in Malang, East Java. The Ministry of Education and Culture announced that it will crackdown on schools that charge the parents of students illegal educational fees. (AFP Photo/Aman Rochman)
The Education and Culture Ministry has reminded all schools receiving state operational assistance funds that they are prohibited from charging additional levies on students’ parents, an official said on Tuesday.
“Schools in Indonesia should no longer demand other fees on the parents of students,” Deputy Education and Culture Minister Musliar Kasim was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying on Tuesday.
He clarified that he was referring to elementary and junior secondary schools as the two levels of education that were covered in a 2011 decree issued by the ministry.
He demanded that all education offices in the region strictly supervise schools and mete out the necessary punishment against principals of schools violating the prohibition.
“If illegal levies are discovered, then the education office must act against institutions applying such payments,” Musliar said.
He said administrative sanctions would be issued, though he did not elaborate.
However, Musliar said that if parents agreed to help fund a particular educational facility out of pocket, an exception would be made.
“If the parents of students determine that there is a need to complete the facilities and infrastructure of the school, only then is a levy permitted and legal,” he said.
Under the School Operational Assistance (BOS) program initiated in 2005, grants are provided to schools on a per-student basis. The funds are given to all schools at the elementary and junior secondary level.
For students at the elementary level, schools receive Rp 580,000 ($65) per student each year, while junior secondary schools receive Rp 710,000.
Musliar said that the government was also providing financial assistance to poor students to compensate for the impact of a rise in the price of subsidized fuels.
Official data showed that there are some 13.5 million poor students in the country.
Under the assistance scheme for poor students, each poor elementary school pupil receives Rp 450,000 per year. Those in junior high schools get Rp 750,000 per year, while Rp 1 million is given to each senior high school student in need of assistance.
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