Thanks Pak SBY!

There was something that made me happy when I read the newspaper this Saturday morning. I saw the headlines, finally the Indonesian government has decided to allocate 20% of their 2009 budget (APBN) for education!

For 2009, the government has expected income of Rp 1022.6 trillion, while plans to spend Rp 1122,2 trillion, which Rp 224 trillion will be allocated to rehabilitate schools, improve their facilities, improve the welfare of teachers, lecturers, and scholarships. The minimum wage of a school teacher is expected to be Rp 2 million/month and above. Unfortunately, we still have a deficit of Rp 99.6 trillion which we have to get it from overseas loan.

Nonetheless, we are heading the right direction. Education is a long term investment which previous government failed to realise. We will not see the result in the next 2-3 years, we (read: Indonesia) will only start to receive the benefit in the next 10 years.

Education will improve the quality of all aspect in our life. It will improve the quality of individual, community and the whole population. It will reduce unemployment that in return will reduce the crime rate, hence our neighborhood will be a lot safer. Education will reduce our dependency from foreign experts, so Indonesia will not be dictate by other countries. Education can make our city cleaner, because educated people will litter or not throw out rubbish from their car. Education will make our street safer, because educated people do not violate traffic rule.

Again, thanks pak SBY for making education a top priority in this country!

Dirgahayu Kemerdekaan RI ke 63, Jayalah Indonesiaku!