Yogyakarta students get free education

Sat, 01/10/2009 10:19 AM | The Archipelago

YOGYAKARTA, Yogyakarta: Parents of elementary and junior high school students in Yogyakarta municipality are no longer required to pay tuition fees, effective this year.

The fees for 26,747 elementary school pupils and 11,728 junior high school students will be paid for by the school operational fund (BOS) and the municipal budget.

"Poor students will also get additional benefits of free uniforms and books," said Syamsuri, head of the municipal education agency.

He added there were currently 9,000 such pupils in elementary schools and 3,400 in junior high schools.

Annual fees for each elementary school pupil amount to Rp 650,000, of which Rp 400,000 will be covered by the BOS and the remainder by the city budget.

For junior high school students, the fees are Rp 1.2 million per year, of which Rp 575,000 will be covered by the BOS and the remainder by the city budget.

Syamsuri said his office had issued a memo to all elementary and junior high schools warning them to stop charging fees. -- JP