Vice-President Boediono has given education authorities two weeks to
improve the distribution of school funding, following reports that up to
Rp 300 billion ($35.4 million) was still being withheld.
Yopie
Hidayat, a spokesman for Boediono, said on Thursday that the
vice-president had ordered the coordinating ministry for people’s
welfare to oversee efforts to expedite the release of the Rp 4 trillion
School Operational Aid (BOS) fund by regional administrations.
“The vice president has given them until the second week of August to
improve the BOS distribution mechanism and report back to him,” he said.
The BOS, which is used by schools to cover their overhead costs
and also serves as an indirect subsidy for students from low-income
families, was previously distributed directly to schools by the central
government.
But as of this year, the government began giving the
funds to regional administrations instead, citing the principle of
regional autonomy. These administrations are then responsible for
distributing the money to schools, but most regional administrations
have failed to distribute the funds on time.
The first quarterly
batch of BOS payments were successfully distributed: only Supiori
district in Papua failed to distribute the funds to schools.
But
the distribution of the second batch, which includes the Rp 300 billion
still withheld, has not come close to the performance of the first.
Nearly 40 district and municipal administrations have failed to give the
money to schools.
National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said
he would set up a team to look into the slow release of the funds,
including probing allegations the money was being diverted for other
purposes
“They have the money already, but it seems difficult
for them to distribute it,” he said.
“They have thousands of
excuses, but I guess there’s really only one problem: lack of
commitment.”
Nuh said the late release of the money would force
school officials to borrow money, raise fees or stop teaching
altogether.
In a related development, officials in Jakarta said
they would soon respond to calls from parents to replace a primary
school principal accused of embezzling money from the BOS.
Taufik
Yudi Mulyanto, the city education chief, said his office had been
monitoring Rotua Siregar, from State Elementary School No. 4 Bambuapus
in East Jakarta, for several weeks and would announce a decision on her
fate before the end of the month.
Earlier this week, angry
parents sealed off the school to protest the lack of action against
Rotua. The education agency has since unsealed it.