Education budget for the poor takes shape

The Bali administration has finalized several plans to allocate 20 percent of the province's 2009 budget, or about Rp 320 billion (US$29 million), for the education of poor youths, a high-ranking government official said recently.

Among the plans is a Rp 98 billion scholarship fund for 3,268 students attending Vocational Senior High Schools (SMK), equating to approximately Rp 30 million for each student over the next three years.

Ketut Kariyasa Adnyana, head of the Bali Legislative Council's Commission IV on educational affairs, said the plan aims to persuade junior high school graduates to enroll in SMKs, since these schools prioritize life and working skills and better prepare students to enter the workforce.

He said the plan was appropriate considering that impoverished students usually opt to work rather than pursue higher educational goals.

Furthermore, under than plan, students in the first, second and third grade of SMKs would have their tuition fees subsidized. Each student would receive Rp 100,000 per month. This plan will cover an estimated 4,950 students, at a cost of Rp 5,94 billion.

Students of Senior High Schools (SMUs) would receive similar treatment, with Rp 3.6 billion in scholarships designated for as many as 3,000 poor students at a rate of Rp 100,000 per month, per student.

Under the plan, Rp 8.4 billion would go to 6,000 junior high schools students and 5,000 elementary schools' students of poor backgrounds. An allowance of Rp 75,000 per month, per student for the former and Rp 50,000 per month per student for the latter would be distributed.

The total cost of the plan amounts to more than Rp 100 billion.

"I realize this is only in the planning stages," Adnyana told The Jakarta Post.

"But we are working very hard to make this come true. It's part of our commitment to make budget allocations that reflect the people's needs, and we in commission IV will uphold that commitment."

Head of the Bali Education Agency's Intermediate Education Division, I Gusti Ngurah Widhiarta said he welcomed the proposals, adding that the budget allocations should be able to minimize the number of drop-outs in the island.

This year, as many as 1,613 students from elementary school, SMUs and SMKs have dropped out, mainly due to economic reasons. Things are predicted to get worse next year as the island will feel the real impacts of the global economic crisis.