DKI Pemprov Distributes Aid For 171 Students With Withholding Certificates

Submission of assistance for student diploma fees (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - As many as 171 DKI private school students whose diplomas are on hold can now sigh with relief. The DKI Provincial Government has disbursed assistance of Rp. 688 million to free diplomas in 79 private schools.

Regional Secretary (Sekda) of DKI Saefullah explained that the certificates that were released were 15 high school students, 48 junior high school students, 97 vocational students, and 11 elementary school students. Saefullah appealed to the funds that have been received to be channeled directly to their respective schools so that the certificate can be received immediately.

"This money is not accepted by the students. Received briefly, but immediately given to the school. So that the certificate is interesting. If later through hand to hand, the diploma does not come back and forth, it could be a problem." said Saefullah, Thursday, December 19.

Prior to handing over the assistance, the DKI Provincial Government has conducted clarification and verification to schools that are indicated to have held their diplomas as listed in the DPRD's proposed list.

Clarification and verification are carried out to ensure the suitability of the student arrears data with the actual conditions as evidenced by the statement of each school principal with the knowledge of the school supervisor.

Saefullah said, initially there was input from the DKI Jakarta DPRD to budget for diploma redemption in the APBD.

There were about 540 names submitted by the council. However, because the verification process takes time, while the budget discussion period has reached the deadline, this amount has shrunk.

"Budgeting time has passed, so I took the initiative. Yes, we will take it over later through Baznas (Bazis) DKI Jakarta," said Saefullah.

In the process of helping to redeem this certificate, the Provincial Government is collaborating with Baznaz-Bazis DKI Jakarta. Head of Baznas-Bazis DKI, Luthfi Fathullah, explained that the fees paid to redeem the diploma were different for each student.

Most of the costs are to pay tuition arrears, building fees, uniform fees, and school examination fees. "We don't pay for the school trip," he said.

Furthermore, Luthfi explained that during 2019, Baznaz Bazis had distributed funds amounting to IDR 3.6 billion for diplomas and school fees.

"We have disbursed Rp3 billion for this program and Rp688 million we spent to redeem certificates and to pay off tuition fees. Hopefully next year we can raise Rp. 250 billion," said Luthfi.