Garut, West Java, July 16 -- Deputy Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Fajar Riza Ul Haq has urged the public not to discriminate between public and private schools, saying both play an equal role in providing education.

"There must be no discrimination between public and private schools," he said during a working visit to review the school environment orientation period (MPLS) in Garut District, West Java, on Wednesday.

Commenting on people's tendency to favor public schools, which they believe offer better quality than private schools, he stressed that both private and public schools have the right to develop and grow.

According to the deputy minister, this bias is often obvious during new student admissions, when private s...