Sentani, Papua (ANTARA) - The Jayapura district government in Papua revealed on Wednesday that 30 percent of this year's special autonomy fund is to be allocated for the education sector, as it continues efforts to improve the quality of education for native Papuans.

The special autonomy fund, which totaled Rp177 billion, had been received in May, the Head of the Jayapura Development Planning Agency, Parson Horota, said in Sentani, the capital of Jayapura District.

This year's budget amount the district government received from the Papua special autonomy fund increased from Rp121 billion last year, he said.

Some 30 percent of the funding would be used for improving the education of indigenous Papuans in the district, as the Papua special autonomy fund is aimed at accelerating Papua's development in various sectors, he said.

"An increase in the budget for education must be followed by transparency in using it," he said.

ANTARA reported earlier the Indonesian government's consistent commitment to boost the development of the country's eastern regions, including Papua and West Papua provinces.

The Papua special autonomy law has paved the way for funds from the central government to Papua and West Papua since 2001.

The Finance Ministry's data has indicated that during the implementation of the Papua special autonomy law, the government disbursed Rp138.65 trillion for Papua and West Papua as special autonomy funds, and additional funds for infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, the total regional transfer and village funds that the government distributed in the two provinces between 2002 and 2021 have been recorded at Rp702.3 trillion, according to People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Bambang Soesatyo.

Despite receiving central funding, the two provinces still face challenges in improving the quality of their human capital, as indicated by their scores on Indonesia's 2020 Human Development Index, which were below the national average of 71.94.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) revealed that Papua and West Papua scored 60.44 and 65.09, respectively, on the index, which were lower than Aceh province's score of 71.99.

BPS data released in February 2022 further showed that the poverty rates in Papua and West Papua were recorded at 26.8 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively.

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Translator: Agustina EJ, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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