"Regarding the Constitutional Court ruling for free elementary and junior high schools, both in public and private schools, we will prepare it," he said.
Currently, the provincial government is designing a pilot project for running free private schools at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels.
Pramono further highlighted that all public schools in Jakarta have been providing free education for several years.
Earlier, the Constitutional Court ruled that the central and regional governments must provide free basic education at public and private elementary, junior high, and madrasah (Islamic school), or equivalent educational units.
The ruling referred to the phrase "compulsory education at least at the elementary education level without charging fees" in Article 34, Paragraph (2) of Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System (Sisdiknas).
The Constitutional Court said the phrase has given rise to multiple interpretations and discriminatory treatment, and therefore, is in contravention to the 1945 Constitution.
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Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said that if applied solely to public schools, the phrase could create a gap in access to basic education for private school students.
This is because, in certain cases, students are forced to attend private schools due to the limited capacity of public schools.
As per the Constitutional Court, in such cases, the state has a Constitutional obligation to ensure that all students can obtain basic education, regardless of economic factors and limited educational facilities.
As per data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek), the total number of elementary schools and junior high schools in DKI Jakarta province stands at 2,715 and 1,342, respectively, totaling 4,057.
The figure includes both public and private schools.
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Translator: Khaerul Izan, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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