Education budget more than doubled to Rp322 trillion in 2013 from Rp152 trillion in 2009. The figure increased to Rp419.8 trillion in 2017 and further moved up to Rp444 trillion in 2018, she said here on Tuesday.
"The increasingly larger budget becomes the responsibility of all of us. The education budget, which makes up 20 percent of the total budget, will surely increase because state revenues and expenditures will also increase, while other budgets would depend on needs," she noted.
Sri Mulyani revealed that the government had made efforts to distribute education budget in accordance with the constitution, but it had not thought of quality.
She further pointed out the results of a survey conducted by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). In 2013, Indonesia was ranked 71st out of 72 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) surveyed.
However, the result of a survey conducted by PISA in 2015 showed Indonesia?s improvement in rating to 64th from 71st in 2012. The rating is lower than that of Vietnam, which ranked 8th for PISA score in 2015.
She added that the method of allocating education budget needs to be improved by taking into account the design of the Indonesian education.
"We all must think of what strategy we would use first, be it raising teachers` salaries, improving teachers` (skill), classes, or laboratories," she elaborated.
She expressed hope that the Association of Indonesian Teachers (PGRI) will serve as an important pillar not only to support the struggle for teachers` welfare but also to produce good education.
Reported by Calvin Basuki
EDITED BY INE
(T.S012/B/KR-BSR/A014)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
