Jakarta – A recent survey by a coalition of non-governmental organizations active in the education sector found schools are still illegally making parents pay to register their children as new students.
The survey, which covered 131 schools in 13 regencies and municipalities, found that besides charging parents fees for uniforms and textbooks, schools often impose fees for such non-educational projects such as the construction of fishponds, fences and prayer rooms.
"We compiled these results from the survey performed from June 19 to July 18. There are more reports coming. This is just the beginning. We will soon have a meeting with the respondents, the House of Representatives and the Education Ministry. We are also considering pressing charges against the government for allowing these practices," Ade Irawan of Indonesian Corruption Watch told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Ade said parents paid between Rp 250,000 (US$27.60) and Rp 7,500,000 ($828) to register their children at schools. He added most parents had no bargaining power because they were unfamiliar with admissions regulations, and they wanted to guarantee their children were registered.
"School officials never familiarize parents with the new student admissions procedures. They also never tell the public how many students they can accommodate. They exploit the system by selling admissions to students who do not qualify," he said.
Jumono from the Alliance of Parents Concerned With Education Funds said his organization tried to empower parents by giving them copies of the 2003 law on the national education system. The law stipulates the government must eliminate all obstructions to access to education.
"I want to empower parents by telling them their rights, so I distribute copies of the law. That strategy has worked. Parents who have copies have been able to avoid paying the illegal fees," he said.
Ade said schools often threw up administrative obstructions by requiring playgroup certificates as a qualification for registering at elementary schools, or demanding copies of birth certificates and refusing to accept birth notices issued by hospitals.
Jumono said schools must publicly post their budgets and admissions policies to ensure transparency. "I saw one school in eastern Indonesia that posted their school budget on the office wall. I haven't seen any school in Jakarta do that," he said.
Jumono said his organization had reported some of these cases to government officials, but this had only resulted in the schools' principals being replaced, without changing how the schools operated.
He said filing lawsuits against school officials was the best way to stop the practice of imposing illegal fees on parents. "But the police require us to submit evidence that the fees go into personal accounts. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to provide such information," he said.