International-Standard Pilot Project Schools

The following are short articles taken from the Jakarta Post in the past couple of weeks. The notion of a strata of schools for the children of rich parents has caused concern for some time, especially as the schools' management bodies are able to charge high fees - and national schools are not supposed to charge any. That the quality of education provided is in no way comparable to that provided by genuine international schools, originally established for the children of expatriate parents.

An editorial in the Jakarta Post in March last year (2010) closed with these remarks.

It is the task of all elements in this country to improve the quality of our education, which ranks low even among Asian countries. Therefore, we appreciate the number of corporations that run schools, including those with international standards.

However, it is also unwise for the government to push certain schools, including state ones, to open the international standards of services in the absence of proper educational infrastructure and teaching staff who meet the requirements set for such schools. Besides, we need all categories of schools to serve society’s various demands.

Obviously, judging by the following news articles, no-one in the Department of Education reads the Post.

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Teachers to request review of RSBI schools

Retno Listyarti, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Federated Teachers Union (FSGI) says the FSGI will request a judicial review of the National Educational System Law that administers international-standard pilot project schools (RSBI).

Several NGOs would join the union in backing the review, Retno said, including the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), and the Education Coalition.

The review request would challenge article 50 of the law, which obliges every regency or city to have an RSBI school, Retno said as reported by tempointeraktif.com.

The presence of the RBSI schools has irked critics, who claim that the schools segregate students from different economic backgrounds.

There have been huge disparities between the facilities for traditional and international students. While international program classrooms are typically equipped with posh tables and chairs, only second-rate facilities are available for regular track students, even within the same school.

Retno, a teacher at SMAN 13 Jakarta said an international-class student at the state high school could pay up to Rp 31 million (US$3,500) a year in fees and tuition.

“Education should be based on our values and culture. It should not be like airline flights, where there are economy and executive classes,” Retno said on Tuesday.

RSBI schools prone to corruption: Activists

The establishment of international standard pilot-project schools (RSBI) not only widens the gap between the affluent and the poor, but opens new corruption opportunities, activists say.

“There are many findings that point to potential corruption,” said Febri Hendri from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), regarding documents consisting of SMPN 1 state junior high school’s budget and its cash book for the 2010/2011 academic year at the Jakarta Education Agency on Thursday.

ICW and the Alliance of Parents Concerned with Indonesian Education (APPI) visited the agency to submit a proof of corruption indication report on SMPN 1 in Cikini, Central Jakarta.

RSBI is a category of state schools in the process of achieving international standard school (SBI) status. Unlike regular state schools, RSBIs can charge parents monthly fees.

Febri said on Oct. 18 2010, for example, the school spent Rp 1 million (US$117) of unallocated funds on Central Jakarta RSBI supervisors as incentives, which the ICW viewed as gratuity fees. The school also provided Rp 9 million in transportation funds to a certain monitoring, evaluation and supervision team.

“What is this for? If the priority is supervision of SMPN 1, why is the money going this way?” he said.

Febri read out a total of 16 oddities and potential corruption cases in the school’s treasury accounts.

SMPN 1 is one of four RSBI schools in the region that refused to disclose their accountability report and planned expenditure budget, which the Central Information Commission (KIP) has officially categorized as public information.

SMAN 70 Jakarta senior high school in South Jakarta, another of the four schools under scrutiny, has also raised suspicions on matters of discretion.

Musni Umar, a parent and SMAN 70 school committee member, said the same situation was occurring at his child’s school. “We will take it to the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK].”

Education agency deputy chief Agus Suradika promised to look into the case. “We will study the documents and announce our response in 14-days time at the latest,” he said.

There are 10 RSBI senior high schools in Jakarta of a total 117 senior high schools. There are 11 RSBI junior high schools of 287 and 7 RSBI elementary schools of more than 2,000.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has recently ordered an evaluation of RSBI schools following complaints regarding the schools’ failure to achieve superior academic achievement.

RSBI schools ‘worsen’ social divide

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has urged the government to change its international standard school funding policy, which it says widens the gap between rich and poor students.

Only children from affluent families can afford international-standard schools (SBI) and international-standard pilot project schools (RSBI). Ironically, these schools receive more government funding, instead of the poorer schools that definitely need more attention, said FITRA investigation and advocacy coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi in a press statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

“This very unjust and discriminating policy will prompt regional administrations to compete in opening SBIs and RSBIs so they can earn block grants from the central government,” Uchok said.

“And this will cause those regional administrations to spend more on those international standard schools and at the same time abandon schools in outlying areas that actually need more money from the regional budgets.”

Uchok added that the government had allocated Rp 242 billion (US$27.35 million) to SBI and RSBI schools next year and only Rp 108 billion for regular schools, even though the latter constituted the majority.