Students study amid dust, debris and termite nests<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang, The Jakarta Post<\/p>\n
Second-grade students from state-elementary school 8, the only
\nelementary school in Panunggangan subdistrict, Pinang district,
\nTangerang, played a guessing game as they waited for their
\nteachers.<\/p>\n
But their game stopped as two teachers, Sutrisno and
\nRosmaning, showed The Jakarta Post around their dirty classroom
\nlast Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"We're guessing who's table the insects will fall on today,\"
\n7-year-old Rahayu, one of the second-grade students, told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
According to the students, the idea for the game was sparked
\nby the frequency of a variety of insects falling on the student's
\ndesks from the roof. A startling experience.<\/p>\n
A student spontaneously asked the Post: \"Are you
\ngoing to publish our school's story in the newspaper, mister
\njournalist? When will our school will be repaired?\".<\/p>\n
Neither the teachers nor the Post could answer their last
\nquestion. Instead, Sutrisno told his students to pray for the
\ngovernment to repair their badly-damaged school building
\nimmediately.<\/p>\n
According to Tangerang mayoralty data, the state school is not
\nthe only school with terrible study conditions for its students.
\nMost of the about 540 state elementary schools in Tangerang are
\nin disrepair, with no efforts having been made to repair the
\nbuildings despite widespread publicity of the situation.<\/p>\n
Every corner of school 8 was severely damaged. Parts of the
\nroof were missing. The wood barely holding the roof up was
\ninfested with insect nests.<\/p>\n
The ceiling and walls in almost every room in the school were
\nholed. Parts of the roof were loose and posed a serious danger to
\nthe students below.<\/p>\n
The floor was covered in dust.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the students seemed to enjoy themselves as they
\nplayed while awaiting their teachers. None seemed to realize the
\ndilapidated school building was a hazard.<\/p>\n
According to the teachers, the school building had been in
\ndisrepair since 2000 but they had no funds to repair it.<\/p>\n
Sutrisno said they had repeatedly asked the Tangerang
\nmunicipal administration to renovate the school building, but the
\nmunicipal education agency had only sent officials to check the
\nbuilding. There had been no follow-up action.<\/p>\n
\"We can only hope now that the administration will soon repair
\nthe school building before it collapses and claims the lives of
\nteachers and students,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-study-amid-dust-debris-and-termite-nests-1447893297",
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