Alternative school meets people's real needs<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Long before the government introduced the slogan \"education for
\nall\" on National Education Day last week, local communities were
\nestablishing alternative schools to provide residents needed
\nskills.<\/p>\n
\"Nowadays, formal education cannot provide what is actually
\nneeded by communities, especially in rural areas,\" the man behind
\nBengkulu's Alternative Community School, D. Andalas, told The
\nJakarta Post on the sidelines of a community empowerment
\ncompetition hosted by the government and several foreign donors
\nearlier this month.<\/p>\n
The jury at the empowerment event heard that with a grant, the
\nalternative school in Bengkulu, which provides education for
\nlocals in Sumber Urip village -- a two-hour drive from the
\nprovincial capital of Bengkulu -- could train 1,800 locals in
\nfarming, agriculture, management and home industry.<\/p>\n
Andalas said local farmers could not afford a formal
\neducation. \"Only 40 percent to 60 percent of elementary school
\ngraduates and 25 percent to 30 percent of junior high school
\ngraduates continue their studies at the next level.\"<\/p>\n
\"We started by identifying their needs and then building a
\ncurriculum that set no boundaries on age and that was not limited
\nby the lack of physical infrastructure,\" Andalas, a graduate of
\nBengkulu University, said.<\/p>\n
He said the alternative school, which was established in 2003,
\naimed not only to educate school-age children, but also to give
\nfarmers and housewives the knowledge to improve their economic
\nstanding.<\/p>\n
Although Law No. 20\/2003 on national education encourages
\ncommunity-based non-formal education, the alternative school
\nreceives little acknowledgement -- not to mention funding -- from
\nthe local administration, Andalas said.<\/p>\n
Andalas, and several volunteer lecturers from Bengkulu
\nUniversity, focus the curriculum on the needs of the community.
\nFunding for the school comes from a collective chicken farm,
\nwhich has made enough money to purchase six computers for the
\nvillage.<\/p>\n
The school curriculum is divided into agriculture, farming,
\nforestry, public health, management, home industry and computer
\nskills, and maintains a balance between theory and practice.<\/p>\n
\"It is a self-built education, proving that communities have
\nthe power to provide themselves with the kind of quality
\neducation previously found only in urban areas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
While some rural residents believe the quality of education in
\ncities is superior, the facts show that many urban poor are left
\nout when it comes to education.<\/p>\n
\"The 2002 social census showed that there were 250,000 school
\ndropouts in Jakarta,\" said Moch. Firdaus, a founder of Yayasan
\nRemaja Masa Depan, a free school in Tebet, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The fact that so many urban poor children do not receive a
\nproper education prompted the graduate of the University of
\nIndonesia to set up the school in 1999 for street children and
\nchildren of poor families.<\/p>\n
\"We currently teach 100 junior high school students and 100
\nhigh school students at our community-funded school,\" Firdaus
\nsaid, adding that the school was supported by a community bank
\nthat served those on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.<\/p>\n
In addition to a free education that prepares students for
\nnational examinations, the school also provides vocational
\ntraining for high school students.<\/p>\n
\"This will add to their professional skills and increase their
\nchances of getting a job,\" Firdaus said.<\/p>\n
Both Andalas and Firdaus said all the hard work that went into
\nestablishing their schools was worth it when these schools were
\nable to provide people with needed life skills.<\/p>\n
\"If we cannot make the government provide an education for
\nall, we have to act on our own and set an example,\" Firdaus
\nsaid.(003)<\/p>",
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