Erwida Maulia and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Lawmakers expressed skepticism Sunday over the government's plan to allocate 20 percent of the 2009 state budget to education, warning the amount could be used to "fool" the public because it lacked transparency.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) also accused the government of trying to deceive the public with its claim it was increasing the education budget to 20 percent of the 2009 state budget, which has a total expenditure of Rp 1,122.2 trillion.

"This is a government trick. We want the government and the House of Representatives to make the formulation of the education budget open and transparent to the public," said Ade Irawan of ICW.

It has been widely reported that the government's education spending for 2008 stood at around Rp 44 trillion (US$4.8 billion).

But President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed in his speech before the House of Representatives' plenary session last Friday that the government had allocated up to Rp 154.2 trillion for education this year.

He added the government would increase the education budget to 20 percent of the total, or Rp 224.44 trillion, in 2009. But Yudhoyono did not provide details of what made up the record-breaking amount.

"We will ask the government to clarify the detailed components that constitute the huge figure. We don't want the public fooled," said Cyprianus Aoer, a lawmaker with House Commission X for education, sport and tourism affairs and a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"The government has different versions of the components of the education budget than we do."

He said the government might have incorporated into the education budget the salaries of teachers, lecturers and personnel for regular education and training programs in all state institutions.

But most people still see the education budget as merely the amount allocated for the National Education Ministry, he said.

Cyprianus accused the government of playing "budgetary politics" ahead of the 2009 legislative and presidential elections.

Fellow Commission X member Ferdiansyah from the Golkar Party said the government, in its proposal for the 2009 state expenditure, allotted Rp 50.2 trillion for the National Education Ministry, Rp 20.8 trillion for the Religious Affairs Ministry, which oversees religious schools, and Rp 46.1 trillion of the additional education budget in the state budget reserve.

He criticized the government for failing to go into detail about the amount allocated for education and training programs in other state institutions, which were likely responsible for the generous 2009 education budget.

The 2003 Law on the National Education System states that the 20 percent mandatory education budget, as required under the 1945 Constitution, must exclude the salaries of educators and funds for education and training programs in state agencies outside the National Education Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry. But in a decision that favored the government, which has repeatedly failed to meet the Constitutional requirement, the Constitutional Court ruled in February that teachers' salaries must be included in the education budget.

The verdict drew protests from community groups, including ICW, which said teachers' salaries – formerly included in the civil servant budget – would eat up a large portion of the education budget.

This would leave little for the long list of items in the education sector that urgently require improvement, ICW added.

Meanwhile, National Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo acknowledged the biggest portion of the 2009 education budget would be used for teachers' salaries, which would be transferred to regions in the form of general allocation funds.

"Teachers' salaries will eat up half of the education budget, followed by the National Education Ministry and Religious Affairs Ministry," he said.