Proof of Poverty Rules Must Be Clear, Not SKTM/Certificate of Inadequacy

Kompas, page 13

The 20 percent quota provision for students from underprivileged families in the enrollment of learners is susceptible to abuse. Certificate of inadequacy (SKTM) is easily falsified for the sake of getting a seat in the desired school. Therefore, there should be clear rules on proof of poverty that can be easily verified.

National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network, Abdullah Ubaid said, in Jakarta, Wednesday (21/6), that the proof of poverty used by schools or other institutions is the Prosperous Family Card (KKS), Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) and Poor Student Assistance. The recipients of those cards should definitely be registered in the country’s database so they can be directly verified.

He criticized the schools that still relied on SKTM as proof that the prospective students are from poor families so they can be in the 20 percent student enrollment quota. The rules of new student admissions assert that schools should not charge any fees from parents. However, he said that there are schools that buy and sell seats through the 20 percent quota for poor students. Therefore, he continued, there must be a written rule prohibiting the use of SKTMs.

Meanwhile, Director General of Managing the Underprivileged/the Poor of the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos), Andi Zainal Abidin Dulung said that SKTM is no longer valid because the government uses the Central Bureau of Statistics data that has sorted the Indonesian population from the richest to the poorest. Kemensos takes the bottom 25 percent of the population. They receive government assistance in the form of rice, hope family program, KKS, and KIP. The data of recipients is currently being integrated by the Ministry of Social Affairs with the education database (Dapodik) of the Ministry of Education and Culture.