Oyos Saroso H. N., Bandarlampung – The Lampung Education Caucus (KPL), an NGO network in Lampung concerned with anticorruption, legal aid and education, urged National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh to enforce the use of electronic text books (BSE) to protect students from book scams.
According to the KPL, nearly 90 percent of the elementary, junior high and senior high schools in Lampung do not use BSEs as they regard them as unprofitable. Most schools require students to buy text books from particular publishers because principals and teachers get huge commissions from them.
"Many school principals and teachers have become part of the book syndicate because they get up to 50 percent commission for a single book. Officials at the provincial, municipal and regency education offices also receive book commissions," KPL head Ahmad Yulden Erwin said over the weekend.
Erwin said he believed the same thing likely took place in other parts of Indonesia.
"As they are lured by commissions, school authorities force students to buy text books published by particular publishers, despite the fact that the government has provided BSEs, which can be downloaded online for free," he said.
"Therefore, we have urged the National Education minister to be firm. What's the use of the government buying e-book royalties if students don't use the electronic books?" Erwin said.
BSEs are part of the text books for elementary, junior and senior high school students, which have been bought by the ministry from several publishers. Every school in Indonesia is expected to download the BSEs from the ministry's website, www.kemdiknas.go.id, for free.
"However, despite the advantage, most school principals prefer to buy books from publishers. Most of them have even become part of the book syndicate. This hurts parents because they have to buy the books for their children for up to millions of rupiah," Erwin said.
The book scam has operated freely due to the lack of firm sanctions from law enforcers. Violators could be charged for multiple offenses according to the Criminal Code.
KPL activist Sutopo Ghani Nugroho, who heads the Lampung Education Board, said the provincial administration and legislature could issue a bylaw to break the book scam chain.
"A provincial bylaw must be issued and implemented because the government, through the National Education Ministry, has not issued a regulation on electronic books. To wipe out the book scam, each province should have a bylaw on books that regulates text book procurement. If need be, there should be a special budget for text books," Sutopo said.
Sutopo added that the cost of printing the BSEs could come from the provincial budget if the administration had enough money, so learning materials could be cheaper that books bought from publishers.
Parents have complained about the high prices of books for this school term. A book package, comprising several text books, costs between Rp 200,000 (US$23.60) and Rp 1.2 million per student.
Sutanto, 43, the father of a student at SMP 1 junior high school in Bandarlampung, said he paid Rp 750,000 for books this term. "My son has to buy new text books every year because he can no longer use the books passed on from his older brother," he said.
Several principals said that they required students to buy books from publishers because the books bought with school operational assistance (BOS) funds were often not for main subjects.
"Elementary school students only get books on sports, while junior high school students only get two books on sports and arts," said SD Palapa II elementary school principal, Tachrir.