Kemendikbud: Misappropriation Of BOS Funds During A Pandemic Threats The Death Penalty

JAKARTA - The Inspector General of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) Chatarina Muliana Girsang reminded school principals and teachers not to misuse BOS funds, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Diversion during the COVID-19 pandemic, if it is used for personal gain, then the threat during a disaster like this is the death penalty," said Chatarina in the BOS Affirmation and BOS Performance webinar in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Thursday, September 10.

He hopes that school principals and teachers will not misuse BOS funds either during the pandemic or when conditions return to normal.

"We certainly don't want school principals and teachers to face the law. Moreover, currently we are short of principals and teachers. For that, I knock the hearts of stakeholders so that all BOS funds are used to increase the accessibility and quality of learning," added Chatarina.

The management of BOS funds, he continued, must prioritize the principles of flexibility (the use of BOS funds is managed according to school needs), effectiveness, efficiency, accountability, and transparency.

For education supervision, he continued, not only the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Education and Culture, but also the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Finance, Ombudsman, BPKP, Polri, Attorney General's Office, KPK, and others.

Chatarina explained that the BOS budget is not small, reaching Rp. 54 trillion, which consists of Regular BOS, Affirmation BOS, and Performance BOS.

"However, there are always reports of various modes of misuse of BOS funds. We summarize that there are at least 12 modes of misuse of BOS funds," he said.

These modes include the principal being asked to deposit a certain amount of money to the BOS fund manager in the Education and Culture under the pretext of accelerating the disbursement, the school principal depositing a certain amount of money to Dikbud personnel, misappropriation in the form of goods and services, the school always argued that if BOS funds were lacking, the school would spay the role of school committees and education boards with the aim of facilitating the management of BOS funds and others.

"We urge all schools to establish a complaint post, so that the use of BOS funds is in accordance with the regulations and helps ensure the use of BOS funds in a transparent manner and reporting is carried out with full responsibility," he added.

The Director General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education and Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Jumeri STP MSi, asked the education offices in the regions to provide guidance to schools and other education units in the use of BOS funds.

With the guidance from the education office, the provision of BOS funds did not pose a risk that would cause school principals to deal with law enforcers.

"For this reason, our collaboration between inspectorates in the regions, education offices, and schools is important so that BOS funds are right on target and can be accounted for properly," hoped Jumeri.