Kindergarten students wearing traditional clothing for a school celebration in Jakarta. Activists say the education budget will lead to more crumbling school buildings and unaffordable fees. (Photo: Safir Makki JG) Education Ministry Budget Cut Criticized
The government’s proposed budget allocation for the Ministry of National Education is too small to significantly improve educational standards, activists said on Tuesday.
In the 2010 state budget proposal that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presented to the House of Representatives on Monday, the government allocated Rp 201.9 trillion ($20.4 billion) to education, or approximately 20 percent of the total proposed 2010 state budget of Rp 1,009.5 trillion.
The Ministry of National Education will only receive Rp 51.8 trillion, however, with the remaining funds earmarked to finance educational initiatives in 15 other ministries.
“[The budget for the Education Ministry] is too small,” said Ade Irawan, public service monitoring coordinator at Indonesia Corruption Watch.
The ministry received Rp 62.1 trillion under the 2009 budget.
Ade said the funding cut would affect the ministry’s spending on educational development and access. “We’ll see more old school buildings collapse and parents will still be charged to send their children to school,” he said.
Fitri Sunarto, program officer for an organization that safeguards educational standards for poor children, said she was worried the government would continue to cut the ministry’s share of the budget. “I’m afraid that the 2009 education budget would end up being the biggest we ever got,” she said.
Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo on Monday said he would prioritize spending on compulsory educational programs and School Operational Aid (BOS).
Th e government allocated Rp 17 trillion to BOS, to be distributed to 40 million elementary and secondary students in 300,000 schools across the country.
Taken From:
http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/education-ministry-budget-cut-criticized/322174
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