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A budget watchdog warns that changing the names of ministries is not as simple as placing new signs in front of their offices.

Uchok Sky Khadafi, from the Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday that a name change could be costly and put a strain on next year’s state budget.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently announced that the Ministry of National Education would now be called the Ministry of Education and Culture, while the Ministry of Culture and Tourism would be transformed into the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

The change of names, as well as roles, Uchok said, will not come cheap.

“[The two ministries] will need to spend a considerable amount of money, both for internal changes and outward polices,” he said.

Both ministries will need new business cards, stamps, paper with letterhead and possibly logos, he said. And given the fact that the Ministry of National Education oversees all schools across the country, those schools are also likely to be affected by the changes, he added.

“This especially affects state schools and universities. I wonder whether SBY has thoroughly considered the changes,” the activist said, referring to the president by his initials.

He said the changes would affect the 2012 state budget because with new roles, the ministries would be expected to pursue new programs. And with the deadline for budget discussions set for the end of the month, Uchok was pessimistic the ministries would see their budgets adjusted. The impact, he said, will be a lot more complicated than people might think.

During Tuesday’s plenary session at the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), outlined the government request. Lawmakers approved.

Muhammad Nuh, minister of national education, told the Globe that the government had carefully though through the changes. He said the adjustments at his ministry were substantial and strategic.

“Being efficient is not the same as being economical,” the minister said.

Prior to 1999, he pointed out, the country had always had education and culture managed by the same ministry. It was only during the administration of the late President Abdurrahman Wahid, from 1999 to 2001, that the two were split into separate ministries.

Nuh said Yudhoyono had decided to bring education and culture back under the same roof because he believed they were intertwined. Education, the minister said, is not only about science, for instance, but also deals with how people appreciate their cultural heritage.

Nuh acknowledged that the changes would cost some money but said that was an inevitable consequence. “More important is the bigger goal we are aiming to achieve,” he said.

He added that both ministries could work with their proposed budgets for next year. The Ministry of National Education received about Rp 260 trillion ($29 billion) in this year’s budget, and Nuh said that amount would be enough to develop both education and culture.