Republika, page 11
The instruction from President Joko Widodo relating to the partial use of the budget for the need of investment was considered to be a hasty move. The government must firstly resolve the allocation and absorption of the education budget before taking any away.
This was stated by the educational observer, Indra Charismiadji. He believed that the government should first prioritize the upgrade of the Net Enrollment Rate (APM) before releasing the instruction on the endowment fund for education. Furthermore, this endowment fund will be prioritized to S2 and S3 level abroad.
Indra said that it is quite inappropriate to prioritize such a goal at this time. The APM of Indonesian students at elementary school level has still not reached one hundred percent. Thus the first main priority should be to see the APM rate reach one hundred percent.
Indra added that the quality of Indonesian education among other countries was still not in the top rank. He underlined that the government should prioritize to improve the quality and system of education for the first step. If these basic problems are resolved, the government is able to focus on the following levels.
EDUCATION NEWS MONITORING SERVICE 