Acehnese students resume studies in damaged buildings<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesian senior high school students (photo right) pray in
\nfront of their classroom on Friday after it was burned down by
\nunidentified assailants in Aceh Besar.<\/p>\n
Thousands of school students in war-torn Aceh were forced on
\nFriday to resume learning activities in the ruins of school
\nbuildings following a massive burning campaign of school
\nbuildings that started four days ago.<\/p>\n
As of Friday at 6 p.m., the number of school buildings
\ndestroyed by irresponsible parties in Aceh had already reached
\n328 located in nine regencies or municipalities, said Annas M.
\nAdam, deputy head of the Aceh provincial education office.<\/p>\n
The burned schools represent almost 10 percent of the total
\nnumber of school buildings in Aceh. The troubled province has a
\ntotal of 4,864 schools in 20 regencies and municipalities.<\/p>\n
Among the schools that resumed activities on Friday was Darul
\nImarah I senior high school in Aceh Besar.<\/p>\n
The students there were seen sitting on the floor while they
\nlistened to the teachers, while others were engaged in
\ndiscussion.<\/p>\n
Fahriati, the school principal, said she still urged her
\nstudents to keep coming to school, even though the school
\nbuilding had already been burned down.<\/p>\n
\"It is imperative for students to attend school as they will
\nhave their final examination in the near future,\" Fahriati was
\nquoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Some elementary schools, however, were still closed on Friday.
\nAlthough some students still came to school, they just played
\nsoccer outside the burned schools.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, students demanded on Friday that Aceh Governor
\nAbdullah Puteh keep his promise to provide them with tents, so
\nthat learning activities could resume.<\/p>\n
The burning of schools has brought losses to the state
\namounting to Rp 100 billion, and left 40,000 students in limbo.<\/p>\n
Separately, Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar
\nsaid that the government would help provide schools with
\nemergency facilities such as tents in order to allow classes to
\ncontinue.<\/p>\n
Funds will be disbursed in stages, Rp 30 billion will be given
\ninitially to purchase school materials, said Malik Fajar.<\/p>\n
Malik Fajar also promised that his ministry would ask security
\nauthorities to spare troops in order to protect the remaining
\nschools.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a political observer demanded on Friday a thorough
\ninvestigation into the arson attacks, saying that the acts were
\ngross violations of the Geneva convention.<\/p>\n
Rizal Sukma, a senior researcher with the Centre for Strategic
\nand International Studies (CSIS), also urged the military to make
\nthe protection of school buildings a priority, saying that the
\nschools are civilian spaces that must be untouched by war.<\/p>",
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