Students carry on studies even without schools<\/p>\n
Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Banjarnegara, Central Java<\/p>\n
Dozens of barefooted elementary school students attentively
\nlistened to their teacher, Rusmiati. Only the students and the
\nteacher were not in a classroom, instead they were in a simple
\nhouse with not even a single tile covering the floor.<\/p>\n
The students were forced to find alternative locations to
\nstudy after the Watuurip elementary school building in Bawang
\ndistrict, Banjarnegara regency, collapsed. Authorities ruled that
\nthe collapse was due to the wood frame of the building, which had
\nrotted.<\/p>\n
The same also happened at the SDN III elementary school in
\nPunggelan district, Banjarnegara, where a number of students were
\nseriously injured when their school building collapsed. Since the
\naccident, the learning process has gone on in a temporary
\nshelter.<\/p>\n
And these are only two of many examples of the poor state of
\nschool buildings in Banjarnegara regency.<\/p>\n
An official from the local administration, Rusmiati, said
\nhundreds of students in the regency were studying in private
\nhouses because their school buildings were badly damaged or had
\ncollapsed.<\/p>\n
\"What else can we do? Because the school building collapsed,
\nthe students have to study somewhere else. Luckily, a home owner
\nallowed us to use his house, otherwise we wouldn't have known
\nwhat to do,\" Rusmiati said, adding that they had been using the
\nprivate house for over a year.<\/p>\n
A teacher at the Punggelan elementary school, Mistar, 50, said
\nhe took three injured students to the hospital after the school
\nbuilding collapsed. He said the building had major cracks in it
\nfor a long time, but was never repaired because of a lack of
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
\"We submitted a request for building repairs to the local
\nadministration but we never got a response,\" Mistar said.<\/p>\n
The school system in Banjarnegara is facing complex problems.
\nHundreds of elementary school buildings are in very bad condition
\nand badly in need of repair. On the other hand, thousands of
\nelementary school-age children fail to go to school because of
\npoverty.<\/p>\n
The deputy regent of Banjarnegara, Hadi Supeno, acknowledged
\nthere were numerous damaged elementary school buildings in the
\narea, with an estimated three to four buildings in danger of
\ncollapsing each month.<\/p>\n
Hadi said over 50 percent of the 722 elementary school
\nbuildings in the regency were in need of repair.<\/p>\n
\"Some 400 buildings are damaged and 300 of them are seriously
\ndamaged and need immediate repair,\" Hadi said.<\/p>\n
According to him, hundreds of these school buildings have been
\nin a poor state since being built in the 1970s, because the local
\nadministration was cheated by contractors who used substandard
\nmaterials to build the buildings.<\/p>\n
A field survey, he said, showed that it would require some Rp
\n80 billion, or about Rp 200 million per building, to repair all
\n400 of the damaged school buildings.<\/p>\n
\"As our regional budget stands at only Rp 260 billion, it is
\nobviously beyond us, financially, to have all the damaged
\nbuildings repaired,\" Hadi said.<\/p>\n
Most of the Rp 260 billion budget, or some Rp 165 billion,
\nwill be spent to pay administration employees, while Rp 58
\nbillion has been set aside to finance development projects.<\/p>\n
Only Rp 1.8 billion has been budgeted for the repair of
\ndamaged elementary school buildings this year.<\/p>\n
\"You can imagine how difficult it is for us to overcome this
\nproblem, because to repair all the damaged school buildings would
\ncost some Rp 80 billion,\" Hadi said.<\/p>\n
To try and ensure that all of the necessary repair work is
\ncompleted, he said he would propose seeking financial assistance
\nfrom foreign donor institutions.<\/p>\n
\"Who knows, maybe we can get the money, or perhaps Bappenas
\n(the National Development Planning Board) still has some reserve
\nfunds. We would be grateful if some of the funds were diverted to
\nus,\" said Hadi.<\/p>\n
For the time being, the Rp 1.8. billion from the local budget
\nwill be distributed to between 40 and 50 elementary schools in
\nthe most need of repair, with each school receiving about Rp 40
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
\"The repair work will be left to the schools' principals and
\nthe village chiefs concerned. Since we cannot give any more
\nmoney, local villagers are expected to lend a hand in the repair
\nwork,\" Hadi said.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, given the earlier experience with some contractors,
\nthis time the money will not simply be entrusted to contractors
\nwithout closely monitoring their work.<\/p>",
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