A Number Of Mobilizing Organizations Use Self-Financing Schemes And Non-APBN Matching Funds

Ministry of Education Building (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) has three financing schemes for the Movement Organization Program (POP). Apart from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN), there are also self-financing schemes and matching funds.

A number of activating organizations even use independent financing and matching funds. Like the Tanoto Foundation and Putra Sampoerna.

Director General of Teachers and Education Personnel of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Iwan Syahril explained, POP financing can be done independently or in conjunction with the budget provided by the government.

"The organization can fully or partly bear the cost of the proposed program," he was quoted as saying on the official website of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Thursday, July 23.

Even so, the Ministry of Education and Culture continues to measure the success of the program through an assessment with three instruments. First, the Minimum Competency Assessment and Character Survey (SD / SMP). Second, the achievement instrument for child growth and development (PAUD). Third, measuring the increase in motivation, knowledge, and teaching practice of teachers and principals.

Not only that, the selection process for foundations or organizations that chose independent financing schemes and matching funds was also carried out with the same criteria as other participants who received the state budget.

"By cooperating with organizations or foundations that focus on education, the Ministry of Education and Culture wants to increase financial contributions in fields that touch all Indonesian people," said Iwan.

Tanoto Foundation Communications Director, Haviez Gautama stated, they are one of the activating organizations that use self-financing. Tanoto Foundation has a Smart Activator Program proposed in POP.

The program will be funded independently by the foundation with an investment of more than IDR 50 billion for a period of two years (2020-2022).

"One of the Tanoto Foundation's missions in collaboration with the government through the Ministry of Education and Culture's POP is to accelerate the global ranking of Indonesian education," said Haviez.

Currently, Indonesia's education ranking is still low. Based on the PISA score, out of 72 countries, Indonesia is in the third lowest ranking.

Meanwhile, Tanoto Foundation Basic Education Program Director Ari Widowati said, in the process of registering the activating organization, the Tanoto Foundation included independent funding options, so that it did not receive financial assistance from the government in running the program.

Since April 16, they have also had no communication with the Ministry of Education and Culture, except through the POP question and answer platform. In addition, they were contacted by blind review by the evaluator, with the interviewer not knowing the origin of the organization. "Everything is done with strict procedures," said Ari.

Separately, the Head of Marketing & Communications of the Putera Sampoerna Foundation, Ria Sutrisno, explained that together with domestic and foreign partners they support the POP program (outside the APBN) using a matching fund scheme with a value of nearly Rp 70 billion to support teacher quality improvement programs and education ecosystem and Rp 90 billion to support programs to increase access to education.

"This is not CSR. We are a foundation that focuses on improving the quality of education. We chose a partnership scheme with various parties as a form of commitment to collaboration in advancing national education, "said Ria Sutrisno.

Matching fund is a grant provided by one party to complement or strengthen a program. In the Mobilizing Organizational Program, the participants multiply the funding assistance from the ceiling that has been set by the government.

This POP polemic emerged when Commission X DPR RI Syaiful Huda (PKB) assessed that there were irregularities in some of the 156 educational organizations that would later receive Ministry of Education and Culture grants from the State Budget. He considered that a number of large companies such as the Putera Sampoerna Foundation and the Bhakti Tanoto Foundation also received the funds.

Member of Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) Ferdiansyah (Golkar Party) also questioned the track record of social organizations (mass organizations) that passed the POP selection. This question also motivated Muhammadiyah and LP Ma'arif NU to resign from the Movement Organization.