Amid rising concerns that the education budget might go to waste, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) says it has proof that the disbursement of state funds at a number of state universities last year was marred with irregularities.
BPK member Rizal Djalil said on Wednesday that BPK’s latest findings show, among other things, that about Rp 25.8 billion (US$3 million) worth of tuition fees collected by a number of state universities were not transferred to the Finance Ministry’s accounts as required by law.
The disbursement of the funds also violated the regulation because they were not channeled through the state budget mechanism, he said, adding that, according to the regulation, all the funds collected by the state universities should be given to the Finance Ministry, which would later give back the money through the state budget allocation.
These irregularities involved state universities in Lampung, Semarang and Makassar, as well as state polytechnic schools in Jakarta, Lampung, Makassar and Semarang.
Other irregularities involved Rp 26.4 billion of unregistered accounts and Rp 1.2 trillion of mismanaged funds, Rizal said.
Forty-three accounts worth Rp 26.4 billion belonging to Hasanuddin University; the state universities of Lampung and Semarang; the state polytechnics of Semarang, Jakarta, Makassar and Lampung; and the South Sulawesi education office were categorized as illegal because they were not registered at the Finance Ministry, BPK data shows.
Other universities and schools that inappropriately managed their budgets are Padjadjaran University, Andalas University, the 10th November Institute of Technology (ITS), Mulawarman University and Riau University.
“This is against the prevailing law, which stipulates that all government accounts should be registered at the Finance Ministry or otherwise they would be deemed unmanageable,” he said, when asked if the cases could be interpreted as criminal acts.
Rizal stopped short of confirming if the BPK findings could be used as proof for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) saying that, according to the law, the BPK’s responsibility “stops at auditing. When the information is captured by the related parties … we are willing to coordinate.”
Education has been a top priority for Indonesia as a way to increase people’s welfare, since poverty remains prevalent in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, despite rapid economic growth. National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana said education was the main development challenge for the country. “The average level of education is still low; many people have an educational level just below junior high school,” she said.
“There has been a huge commitment to education within the National Education Ministry but this needs to be balanced with good governance,” Rizal concluded.
The National Education Ministry, the largest recipient of state funds in the budget, was allocated Rp 63.4 trillion in the 2010 state budget. Total education funds topped Rp 221.4 trillion during the year with an additional Rp 2.4 trillion endowment fund for the National Education Ministry and Religious Affairs Ministry, as well as for programs such as the school operational assistance (BOS).
The amended 1945 Constitution stipulates at least 20 percent of spending in the state budget must go to educational purposes, but critics have said the funds were allocated for non-educational goals and even used by officials to consolidate power.
“Regional leaders delay disbursing the funds and hold on to the money by reporting it as locally generated revenue [PAD] for the next fiscal year. Unfortunately, the funds are then spent on non-educational goals,” Deputy National Education Minister, Fasli Jalal, said Tuesday.
* The Jakarta Post