Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Education activists in Yogyakarta on Friday set up monitoring posts to ensure the enrollment of new students in junior and senior high schools was carried out fairly.
The posts were established in four regencies and a mayoralty, and will be in operation through July 12. Enrollment for senior high school students takes place from July 3 to 5, and enrollment for junior high school students will run from July 7 to 9.
Activists said the reason for setting up the posts was the widespread practice by school administrators of demanding money from parents for granting students placement in schools.
"We set up the posts because corruption was rife in past years," said Sudaedy, coordinator of the Yogyakarta monitoring post. "Many students were not admitted into certain schools because they could not afford to pay these 'entrance fees'."
He said monitors would make a list of all suspicious and corrupt practices committed by school officials, and later submit it to the municipal council for subsequent perusal by the provincial administration and legislature.
Activists have also assembled an advocacy team to provide legal advice for students who are rejected because of a lack of finances. The legal team will also challenge regulations from education agencies and schools they consider hostile to the new students.
In addition, the monitoring posts will record complaints from the public and provide information on the school enrollment process, Sudaedy said.
Sutinah, a housewife in Yogyakarta, said she told monitors she could not afford junior high school fees for her child and still needed to pay Rp 300,000 (US$33) for her child's elementary school certificate.
She said members at the post then helped her write a letter applying for financial aid, and provided the relevant school registration forms. "If the school still makes things difficult, we will provide counseling," Sudaedy said.
An estimated 15,000 new students from outside Yogyakarta will enroll in junior and senior high schools across the city this year.
The influx of migrant students comes in spite of a 2007 city ordinance restricting the number of students from outside the city to only 25 percent of the city's new students, with students from outside the province restricted to 5 percent.
Because of the restrictions, new students are required to provide proof of residency when registering.
Sudarto, head of the city's Family Planning and Civil Statistics Agency's information department, said the ordinance was put in place to stem the massive movement of school-aged children into the city every year.
An average of 50 people per day have applied for letters to move to Yogyakarta ahead of the school registration period, with students between the ages of 12 and 16 years making up the majority.