Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Are education councils effective? Activists on Monday said no. They urged Indonesia to re-evaluate the primary functions of education councils nationwide, which were set up in provinces and districts to provide expert advice and recommendations to regional administrations in matters of education.

Parents and activists said they had yet to come across an education council in Indonesia that lived up to its job description, which includes acting as a negotiator on behalf of the people over education-related matters, focusing on monitoring the quality of education in regions as well as the distribution of educational aid for open-learning centers for the poor.

Jumono, a member of the Alliance of Concerned Parents for Education, said he had yet to receive any benefit from any work done by education councils.

"What benefits? We still believe that schools here still charge students money to maintain cleanliness in schools, and sometimes they charge us parents more money for books. So how have education councils helped us?" he said.

He added that the recruitment of staff members to these councils had never been transparent so parents did not really know whether or not council members were qualified to help people. "It makes us suspicious about how effective they are," he added. "We do not know when or how they are recruited.

"They say the council's members are so-called education experts. We feel the education council is designed in order to fulfill the aims or targets of certain groups. We believe most of the members just have close ties with officials at education agencies in the provinces."

Jumono was one of the city's concerned parents who in March, via the Coalition Against Corruption in Education, demanded that Jakarta thoroughly investigate the misappropriation of education funds and enforce transparency and accountability in state schools.

He also called for a probe into the case of a model elementary school in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, found to have misappropriated Rp 150 million ($17,000) of its 2007 block grant allocated for the adoption of programs aimed at international standardization. "They issued fake receipts for purchases from electronics and catering companies that never existed.

The corruption cases at these schools are only the tip of the iceberg of how dark our education institutions really are," Jumono said at the time.

The coalition also asked the Jakarta Inspectorate to focus on five state junior high schools in the Jakarta area that allegedly embezzled state education funds of up to Rp 1 billion targeted to go to the city's poorest children.

One of the job descriptions of an education council member is to monitor the distribution of state education funds to open-learning centers for the poor, which Jumono pointed out the Jakarta Education Council had done nothing about.

Fasli Djalal, the national education deputy minister, insisted that the 512 education councils spread across districts and towns in Indonesia were functioning as they should. "They have the power to lobby DPRDs [local legislative councils] if they spot something wrong with the education system in the area," Fasli said.

He added that the government was aiming to strengthen the councils by allowing them to communicate directly with district heads and governors. "The central government set up these councils to meet the needs of the people," he said.

Ade Irawan, a public policy coordinator from antigraft group Indonesia Corruption Watch, said that he begged to differ. "They [education councils] have functions to monitor all education activity, but they consist of people who are close with government officials, which is why they cannot perform their best work," he said.

"They are toothless. Based on ICW research, between 20 and 30 percent of state education funds were spent recklessly. These councils failed to monitor this."

Taufik Yudhi Mulyana, head of the Jakarta Education Agency, said it was not true that agency officials had close relationships with education council members. "They [education council members] do criticize us when we do not do our jobs," he said.

Separately, Jakarta Education Council head Agus Suradika said his office was actually raising funds independently to help finance education for the poor. "We cannot solely rely on the government," he said.