[Kabar-indonesia] Indonesian parents enlisted in school corruption fight

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Bekasi to combat schools charging illegal fees; 
and Students enjoy green field trip

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, September 2, 2006
        
Parents enlisted in school corruption fight

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thirty-two-year-old Kasidah is a role model for parents in Jakarta who are 
fighting the corrupt education system.

Last month, Kasidah began a one-woman campaign to fight illegal fees charged 
to students by her daughter's elementary school in Cipinang, East Jakarta.

"Every Wednesday, they (teachers) ask our children to pay Rp 500 (5.6 U.S. 
cents) for the purchase of animals for sacrifice during the next Idul Adha 
celebrations. Is that really our concern?" she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

While that amount is small, Kasidah says it is one of many illegal 
contributions parents are regularly asked to make. The school regularly "fined" students 
for minor infringements, using behavior as a justification to collect cash, 
she said.

"My daughter, for example, once had to pay a fine of Rp 1,000 only because 
she moved to a front seat to make sure she could see the writing on the 
blackboard."

Speaking during an education forum held by the Indonesian Consumers 
Foundation (YLKI), Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and the Indonesian Street 
Children's Organization (ISCO), foundation representative Sudaryatmo said parents 
needed to be brave enough to report corrupt schools to the education agency or 
NGOs concerned with education.

"If they remain silent, we can do nothing to help," he said.

Many parents are still hesitant about reporting irregularities at schools 
because they are afraid the schools will pick on their children or expel them, he 
said.

When a parent, Totok, 47, protested an entrance fee of Rp 3 million charged 
by an elementary school in Cibelouh, Bogor, the school later phoned his 
parents-in-law and relatives asking for the money and complaining that he was "making 
trouble", he said.

The relatives, fearful Totok's daughter would be expelled, paid the money. 
Refusing to be intimidated, Totok wrote about the incident and sent the articles 
to several media.

Ahmad Yani, 42 said the parents in his neighborhood did nothing to fight the 
illegal levies they were charged by a state elementary school in Kwitang, 
Central Jakarta.

"The school charges for almost everything, including a 'seat fee' on the 
first day of school," Ahmad said. Most of his neighbors were reluctant to report 
the case to the authorities.

"The passivity of parents is encouraging schools to charge many illegal 
levies. Because no one asks about the uses of the money, the schools will keep on 
doing it," Sudaryatmo said.

The ISCO's Ramidah said charges for textbooks were an important part of the 
illegal fees parents were supposed to pay.

"Parents should contest any charges for textbooks. People don't have to buy 
books if they really can't afford them. They can copy them or else buy ones at 
discount prices at flea markets," she said.

A 2005 ministry decree prohibited schools from getting into the textbook 
business, she said.

Ramidah said parents should unite to fight all irregular fees charged by 
schools.

"Parents should not be afraid to contest these charges. We must work 
together," Ramidah said.

In one elementary school in Manggarai, South Jakarta, the ISCO and parents 
succeeded in stopping the school from charging fees for non-core activities 
after they threatened to report the fees to the authorities, she said.

To help parents fight the charges, the institute and other NGOs plan to set 
up a complaints center for the public to report problems about education 
services.

Sudaryatmo said the center would involve policy-makers, NGOs, and education 
experts.

"We will follow up every complaint in a forum where the government and the 
public meet. We hope by that time, that the government will address the 
complaints," Sudaryatmo said.

YLKI's latest survey reveals that 24.39 percent of 123 complaints received by 
the foundation are related to illegal levies, 21.95 percent to textbook 
charges and 15.45 percent to entrance fees.

ICW representative Ade Irawan said the government would increase the 
education budget to Rp 54.1 trillion next year from Rp 43.4 trillion this year. 
However, this would not stop graft in the sector, he said.

"Illegal payments are just one form of corruption", involving teachers, 
schools and local education agencies, he said.

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The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Bekasi to combat schools charging illegal fees

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Bekasi

The Bekasi administration has said it will take stern measures against 
schools that charge parents illegal fees.

Mayor Akhmad Zurfaih said his administration had allocated Rp 51 billion from 
this year's municipal budget for education and an additional Rp 4.5 billion 
for textbook procurement in the hopes that schools would not longer charge 
parents illegal tuition fees or textbook costs.

"We will watch the schools closely because we don't want parents to be 
burdened by their children's education costs," he said Thursday.

Schools that were caught charging parents "levies" would be given sanctions, 
Akhmad said, although he did not elaborate on what they would involve.

He said his administration would cooperate with the education agency to deal 
with any complaints made by parents to decide the best measures to be taken.

"We don't just want to hear complaints from parents about this issue," he 
said.

The administration had previously implemented a Rp 19,500 a month tuition fee 
subsidy for each student, but, Akhmad said, parents were still complaining 
about expensive school fees.

"I receive more than two complaints a month. Some schools not only charge 
tuition fees but also ask for more money, disguised as fees for different 
things," he said.

Akmad said he had heard of schools selling packages of textbooks for Rp 
300,000, even though bookstores were selling them at far lower prices.

The administration will have to work quickly to help parents in the area, 
however, as many are still being overcharged by their children's schools.

Hartati, whose child attends a state elementary school in West Bekasi, said 
she had paid millions of rupiah for her daughter to attend school.

She said she pawned her jewelry to pay school and building fees, buy 
textbooks and make a "donation" to the teachers.

"I thought since she was going to elementary school she would be free from 
paying fees. The school did not charge me all at once, but the total amount we 
spent was maybe more than Rp 2 million," said the 39-year-old.

Hartati said she did not know if other parents had also paid that much, but 
that when she had confronted staff at the school about the matter she was told 
that her daughter was not qualified to attend the school.

"(They said) that if I did not pay then my daughter's seat would be given to 
someone else," she said.

Hartati has one other child, a 5-year-old who is meant to start kindergarten 
soon.

"I don't know if I can afford to send my children to high school with these 
expenses at the elementary school level," she said. 

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The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Students enjoy green field trip

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

On Friday, the Gandhi Memorial International school decided to make things a 
little more interesting for its students.

The school's entire population, from grade six to twelve, took a day off from 
the books and headed to Buperta, a scout camping ground and tourism complex 
in Cibubur.

The trip is an annual one, attended by hundreds of students and many parents. 
A cricket tournament is held -- unsurprisingly, at a school where many of the 
students have an Indian background, it's the most popular sport -- along with 
chess, scrabble, painting and soccer competitions. Traditional Indian games 
such as Kabbadi and Kho Kho are played, along with British Bulldog, an English 
schoolchildren's game brought to India when it was a colony.

"Just let your mind have fun. We can shout out here and nobody bothers us," 
said Divya, a twelfth-grader at the school.

"We forget all about our homework and are playing so many games here -- it's 
time to relax".

Divya said the outdoor activities helped to enhance the relationships between 
students and teachers.

"The teachers are much more open. They become friendly and nice and we can 
talk to them one-on-one. We can understand our friends better her, too," she 
said.

Principle Ashok Pal Singh said the event was meant to enhance the spirit of 
camaraderie and cooperation between students and teachers.

"We have many activities to (take part in) so students can develop bounds 
within them," Singh said.

"The students will go back to school on Monday with a more joyful atmosphere 
of learning. They will enjoy learning. This is the main reason for the Cibubur 
field trip," he said.

Tarana Rana, a tenth-grader, said she liked breathing fresh air, which was 
rare around her home in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

"I do like the fresh air. It is a day free of pollution. Jakarta's air and 
traffic are worsening," she said, adding that she hoped the trip would be held 
twice a year in the future.

Students also collected all the garbage left in the area from their trip.

"We don't want to leave a mess behind. I ordered the students to pick up the 
waste. We collected more than 30 bags of waste last year," said Rajesh 
Kripalani, one of the program's coordinators.

Singh said the school was also raising funds to help the victims of the 
Yogyakarta earthquake.

"We hope to have reached US$20,000 by June next year. The money will come 
from the students. Every class is collecting money," he said. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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