West Java’s Education Office has urged private school managers in the province to facilitate children who cannot afford education service.

“We urge private institutions to deliberate in order to accommodate underprivileged people,” West Java’s Education Office Head Dedi Supandi said here on Sunday.

“It will be great if underprivileged people can receive free education at private institutions,” he continued.

Throughout this time, residents who are economically underprivileged do not wish to send their children to private schools, he informed.

One of the reasons is because the education cost in private schools is more expensive compared to public schools.

“Why do they want public schools? It is because they worry that their children might drop out if they go to private school, because they cannot afford the cost since they have to pay the tuition fee and everything,” he explained.

However, public schools have limited numbers and they cannot accommodate every child from every underprivileged family.

“Hence, those who are not accepted in public (schools) should be directed toward private schools,” Supandi said.

The state-run public school institution allocated a 12 percent quota for children from economically underprivileged families this year.

The quota is very small compared to the number of underprivileged children which is estimated to increase owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, he explained.

To this end, the West Java provincial government directs children from underprivileged families who are not admitted in public schools to seek their education in private schools.

The West Java provincial government also provides aid worth Rp2.7 million per student per year for children from underprivileged families who study in private schools.

Source: Antara News