Free all SMP, Central Papua Governor: There is no reason for children not to go to school

PAPUA - The Central Papua Provincial Government has ensured that it will make school free for all junior high school students, both state and private, by 2026. This is being done as an effort to increase access to education in the area.

The Governor of Central Papua Meki Nawipa in Nabire, Sunday, said the policy was part of the regional government's commitment to prioritizing human resource development (SDM).

"So this year we will free the education costs of all SMP in Central Papua," said Governor Meki Nawipa, launching ANTARA, Sunday, May 24.

He emphasized that there should be no entrance fee for middle school students in Central Papua after the policy of exemption from education costs was implemented.

In fact, he threatened that if there were teachers who asked for payment to enter school, they would immediately be taken to court.

According to him, in the previous year the Central Papua Provincial Government had previously released the cost of high school education and this year the policy was expanded to the junior high school level.

"So there is no longer any reason for children in Central Papua not to go to school," he said.

In addition to the release of education costs, his party also continued the education assistance program for students who study in Nabire Regency. Since last year, the Provincial Government has provided scholarships to students in semesters III and IV with a Cumulative Achievement Index (IPK) of at least 2.75.

However, he said, the release of education costs for the Elementary School (SD) level could not be implemented this year, because the government was still making improvements to the Education Core Data (Dapodik). "We must first ensure the Dapodik for SD in Central Papua," he said.

Based on data from the Central Papua Education and Culture Office (Disdikbud), the number of students in 2026 consists of 112 thousand elementary school students, 42,500 junior high school students, 19,800 high school students, and 11,400 vocational students, both state and private.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Central Papua Education and Culture Data Division, Yulianus Kuayo, said that his party had tightened the validation of Dapodik data to prevent the practice of filling in fictitious data in educational units.

According to him, there is still a discrepancy between the number of students recorded in Dapodik and the number of students who take the exam at school.

"At the elementary school level, for example, when the number of students is small, but in Dapodik it is recorded as many," he said.

He explained that the findings indicated data manipulation, including the use of invalid National Identification Numbers (NIK) by school operators.

As a step to discipline, the Central Papua Education and Culture Office will recommend sanctions to schools that have been proven to have violated the management of the School Operational Assistance (BOS) fund.

"If there is a discrepancy, we will recommend to the district government to impose sanctions up to the revocation of the national school number," he said.