Dedi Mulyadi Rejects Tuition Fee Plan for Public High Schools
The proposal would target only students in deciles 6-10, but the governor wants schools to maximize BOS funds and the province to cover facility gaps.
The West Java provincial government and the West Java DPRD are discussing whether to reactivate tuition fees for public SMA/SMK, but West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi rejected the proposal. According to Dedi, schools should first maximize school operational assistance, or BOS, funds, while the province would help cover facility shortfalls. The idea emerged during a meeting of the Special Committee on the Draft Regional Regulation on Education Administration at the West Java DPRD. The scheme under discussion would not burden all students, but only families considered able to pay in deciles 6 through 10; students in deciles 1 through 5 would remain free. West Java Education Office head Purwanto said the talks had not become an official decision. West Java DPRD Commission V chairman Yomanius Untung said schools lacked operating funds; per-student needs are estimated at Rp4.5 million a year, while available funding is only about 40 percent.