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The School Management Support (BOS) Fund has been proposed as a potential source of funding for Prabowo Subianto’s free school meals programme, a key election promise of the presumptive winner. However, this proposal has met with fierce opposition, especially from teachers’ organizations who believe that the use of this fund will hinder further improvements in teacher welfare and the quality of education in Indonesia.
The proposal was first made by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, who said that a relatively structured management and funding system in primary and secondary schools was particularly suited to the disbursement of BOS funds for free school meals programs. He said there was. However, Erlanga did not provide details on how this would be implemented, including what proportion of BOS funds should be dedicated to this purpose.
Following his proposal, Mr. Ahmad Zeki Iskandar, an Airlangga expert, explained that the BOS Fund is divided into two parts: the Regular Fund and the Affirmation Fund. While the regular BOS Fund is intended to support school operations such as facility maintenance, provision of multimedia learning tools, and wages for contract teachers, the Affirmative BOS Fund is intended to support school operations such as maintenance of facilities, provision of multimedia learning tools, and wages for contract teachers, while the Affirmative BOS Fund is intended to support school operations, such as maintenance of facilities, provision of multimedia learning tools, and wages for contract teachers, while the Affirmative BOS Fund is intended to support school operations such as maintenance of facilities, provision of multimedia learning tools, and wages for contract teachers. and schools in disadvantaged areas. , Ministry of Research and Technology. Ahmad Zeki suggested that affirmation funds could be used for free lunch programs to ensure “clearer and more systematic” oversight of budgeting and allocation.
The proposal to use BOS funds for the free school lunch program immediately met with opposition from teachers’ organizations, particularly the Federation of Indonesian Teachers’ Associations (FSGI) and the Education Teachers’ Association (P2G). They claim that the Affirmation BOS Fund is not enough to fund the program, whose budget is reportedly estimated at around Rp400 trillion (US$25.4 billion). They pointed out that the total amount of BOS funds allocated in this year’s national budget is only 52.08 trillion rupiah (US$3.3 billion), 2.3% less than last year’s allocation of 53.3 trillion rupiah.
In addition, they require that when BOS funds are used to finance the free school lunch program, the school He expressed strong concern that the quality of education would deteriorate as the school’s operational needs would be compromised and the students would be forced to leave the school. They struggle to pay contract teachers and utility bills. The BOS Fund is part of the larger Education Unit Management Support (BOSP), which aims to support her 12 years of compulsory education in the country.
Just last month, reports emerged that Prabowo was planning to address the challenge of funding the free lunch program by cutting government spending on energy subsidies, with subsidies often misallocated. He pointed out that it was directed at him. He also offered other options, such as raising taxes and boosting economic growth through industrialization, but experts on his team were still calculating these options.
every Thursday
Besides,
Following criticism of the proposal to use BOS funds to finance the free school meals program in Prabowo, Ahmad Zeki said the government does not intend to cut the education budget for this purpose, but rather increase it. . He added that the government is currently conducting a comprehensive study and exploring various funding possibilities for the program.
The free school meal program was recently piloted in secondary schools in Banten province, Tangerang province. The pilot, initiated and funded by local governments, aimed to identify potential pitfalls if the program were implemented in state schools across the country. Up to four main dishes were served in the pilot program, including chicken rice, egg rice, shumai (steamed dumplings), and gado-gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce). Mr. Prabowo had set the cost per meal at 15,000 rupiah (95 US cents), which was criticized by some executives as insufficient to ensure the nutritional value of the food.
Mr Airlangga said the free school meals experiment could be extended to other areas, as the government could work with diverse school environments, infrastructure, financing, schools and food vendors, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It said it would help identify potential issues such as cooperation mechanisms between the two countries. He said expanding the exam would also help the government assess the multiplier effect of the program towards developing a free lunch policy.
what we heard
Sources within the government have said that several ministries and agencies have been moved by President Joko Widodo to the Prabowo-Gibran pair, even though they have not yet officially taken office. He said he had been asked to review the free school meals and milk policy. as president and vice president.
The agencies and ministries that President Jokowi requested to review their policies included the Ministry of Bapenas and the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Areas and Immigration. While these two agencies carry out the review work, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said that the free school meals and milk policy will be covered by the BOS budget. However, the ministries responsible for the review are unaware of any plans to reallocate part of the BOS budget to free school meals and milk.
Another official said Airlangga’s deep involvement in the free school meals and milk policy was an effort to avoid being ousted as Golkar party leader. In recent weeks in particular, there have been rumors that the Golkar Party leader is being targeted by many people, including those within the presidential palace.
Airlangga’s proposal differs from Bapenas’s study, which sees the policy as emerging from the restructuring of energy subsidies, which are being gradually reduced in line with the government’s energy subsidy reduction plan. An alternative option is to reallocate from unproductive budgets. For example, the Ministry of Villages can establish village kitchens for free lunch in undeveloped areas, remote areas and outermost (3T) areas.
Disclaimer
This content is provided in collaboration with Tenggara Strategics. jakarta post We provide the latest comprehensive and authoritative analysis of the political and business landscape in Indonesia. Visit the latest edition of Tenggar Backgrounder and read the articles listed below.
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