NU expects govt to involve private in national education

Jakarta, NU Online
The country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has expected the government to involve private educational institutions in undertaking the national education including in supporting the nine-year compulsory education program.

The statement was made by the Secretary General of the nahdliyin-based organization Endang Turmudzi as attending a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing between the Department of National Education and the Nahdlatul Ulama Ma'arif Educational Institution on academics and youth program supporting a nine-year basic education compulsory program here on Thursday (3/5).<>

The signing was held at the office of the Department of National Education and penned by the Director General of Primary and Secondary Education Management Suyanto and the Chairman of LP Ma'arif NU HM Thoyib.

Endang said that in the effort of increasing the national education quality, the greater funds for education was a must and considered as an important factor in addressing education demands including teachers' welfare and incentives.

"So the recent (education) budget is not adequate enough. For that reason, NU will strive for the attainment of the education budget allocation amounted to 20 percent from the state budget," Endang said.

With regard to the educational institutions affiliated with NU, Endang expected the government to pay more attention to its private schools.

"Generally, the educational institutions affiliated with NU are private either its schools or madrassas that most of them are in rural areas. So far the attention of the government has remained little," Endang said. (dpg/nam)