Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry will provide greater education operational cash assistance (BOP) for Early Childhood Education (PAUD) units and education units running equivalency programs in remote and lower-income areas this year.
"We should not provide the same amount of funds for all schools. Those who need more assistance must also be given more BOP," Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim said at a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
A number of PAUD units will see a large increase in BOP, he informed.
They include Pembina State Kindergarten in Riau province, whose BOP will increase by 48 percent, Kasih Ibu Kindergarten in East Kalimantan province (60 percent), and Lupuk PAUD unit in Papua province (100 percent), he said.
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Meanwhile, the average increase in the budget for BOP of PAUD units and education units with equivalency programs in 270 districts will be 9.5 percent, he added.
The assistance will be transferred directly by the Finance Ministry to the accounts of each education unit, the minister disclosed.
The first stage of the assistance will be received by the education units in March 2022 at the latest, he assured.
"The assistance direct transfer is such a great transformation. Hopefully, it will make the process more efficient," he noted.
The management of the assistance will be flexible, according to the needs of the education units, he said.
"Fund management has been made more independent and autonomous. We trust the principal of each education unit to manage it. Still, we will also apply a more transparent reporting system," Makarim added.
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Furthermore, he informed that in 2022, the planning and reporting of school operational assistance (BOS) will be done using the School Activity Plan and Budget App (ARKAS) as a single platform.
Earlier, the school budget management system was separate from the regional government’s financial management system, he noted.
Hence, to simplify the system, ARKAS has been integrated with the Regional Development Information System (SIPD), so school administrators will only need to input the data in one app, he said.
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