Jakarta Commission E Secretary, Justin Adrian read out Commission E's recommendations in the discussion on changes to the General Policy of the Regional Budget and the Temporary Budget Priorities and Ceilings (KUA-PPAS) for the 2025 Fiscal Year, particularly for the education sector.

The Education Agency budget was agreed to increase from Rp 18.5 trillion to Rp 19.7 trillion during a joint meeting of the Jakarta City Council's Budget Agency (Banggar) and the executive.

Commission E fully supports this additional budget, including an additional Rp 51.4 billion for the Jakarta Pintar Card (KJP) program, the Jakarta Mahasiswa Unggul Card (KJMU), and the expansion of free schools.

However, Justin emphasized the importance of ensuring the KJP and KJMU programs are well-targeted and free from illegal levies in schools. He also requested the Education Agency to provide detailed data on the number of aid recipients, the amount, and a comparison with the previous year.

"Commission E is also pushing for increasing capacity in public schools and the expansion of the free school program to private schools. That is why the agency is asked to provide complete data on school locations, number of schools, and student enrollment quotas for the free private school program," he said, Friday (7/11).

Commission E also proposed increasing the number of inclusive schools for student with special needs and accelerating the provision of disability-friendly educational facilities.

Other recommendations include developing a map of digital device needs and allocating dedicated budgeting to support technology-based learning. The City Council also requested serious attention to the progress of school construction, ensuring that all projects meet safe building standards and are completed on time.

"School building maintenance must get adequate budget allocation," he added.

Commission E also requested that the domicile and age-based admission policy for new students to be reviewed, as it was deemed to hinder children's access to public schools.

"Commission E supports the additional budet for free school program, but reduction in BOS funds should not make the burden of operational costs on parents," he admitted.