School for poor children opened<\/p>\n
By Joko E.H. Anwar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of children between four and 10 years old
\ngathered under the Gedung Panjang 2 flyover in Penjaringan
\ndistrict, North Jakarta, on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
They neatly stood in line while observing the opening ceremony
\nof a new School for Poor People. The school is a 4.5 by 3.5 meter
\nplywood classroom, erected below the flyover. The ceremony also
\ninitiated the school activities for the 2000\/2001 school period.<\/p>\n
Farid R. Faqih, coordinator of the nongovernmental
\norganization (NGO) Guidance for the Poor (Param) that was
\nresponsible for building the school, said the class was meant to
\nteach the kids how to read and write and do simple calculations.<\/p>\n
\"Those will be their basic needs to get out of their current
\nsituation,\" Farid said to reporters after the ceremony.<\/p>\n
There are hundreds of people who live under the flyover who
\nmostly earn their living by working as scavengers and operators
\nof bicycle taxis.<\/p>\n
Farid said Param had received a Rp 10 million (US$1,125) grant
\nfrom the Ministry of National Education for the operation of the
\nschool.<\/p>\n
\"We want this school to run smoothly, so we hire people to
\nteach the children with a salary of between Rp 200,000 and Rp
\n300,000 a month, plus a Rp 5,000 transportation allowance per
\nday,\" he said, while citing that some of the teachers were
\nrecruited from the Teachers' Training Institute (IKIP).<\/p>\n
The Gedung Panjang School, the fourth established by Param,
\nwill be open from Monday to Friday, starting at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
\"It's about the time when the kids get back from their daily
\nactivities as scavengers or street singers,\" Farid said.<\/p>\n
Three other similar schools have been built in Pedongkelan
\nsubdistrict and in Bunderan subdistrict in North Jakarta, and in
\nCipete district, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He said the kids would be charged Rp 1,000 a month to study at
\nthe school.<\/p>\n
The children's mothers, some of whom were holding their
\nbabies, looked enthusiastic about the opening of the school.<\/p>\n
\"I'm very glad there is such a school here,\" one of the
\nmothers, Siti, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"I cannot afford to put Maya into a (proper) school,\" she
\nsaid, referring to her nine-year old daughter.<\/p>\n
The school was officially inaugurated by director general of
\nelementary and secondary education at the Ministry of National
\nEducation Indra Djati Sidi.<\/p>\n
\"These children have been neglected as the government does not
\nhave a systematic program to handle them,\" Indra said in his
\nopening speech.<\/p>\n
He said his office was currently building a network in
\ncollaboration with several NGOs which organizes similar schools
\nfor children who live in slum areas throughout the capital.<\/p>\n
Farid, also coordinator of Government Watch (Gowa), an NGO
\nwhich observes the government's performance, criticized Governor
\nSutiyoso's administration for its politically-motivated programs
\nwhich have been unable to provide a better life for the poor.<\/p>\n
\"The poor are only respected during the five-yearly general
\nelection campaigning when political parties lure them to vote for
\nthe parties,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He also blamed the Jakarta administration for targeting street
\nchildren who make their living from selling or singing on the
\nstreets.<\/p>\n
\"Their trading places are not proper. But the government also
\nhas to make real programs to help them earn money,\" Farid said.<\/p>\n
When the class started, 35 children entered the classroom, sat
\ndown on plastic sheets and put their arms on the long tables
\nprovided for them.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, a teacher told them to sing a popular
\nlocal children's song, Bintang Kecil (Little Stars).<\/p>\n
The students then sang enthusiastically, although the sound of
\nheavy vehicles traveling on the flyover above often drowned out
\ntheir voices.<\/p>",
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