130 damaged schools reopen across Aceh's disaster zones

Tony Hotland and Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Seven-year-old Safrizal slipped two books and pencils inside a box and then sprang outside a room he and his mother use as a shelter inside Lampeuneurut elementary school building in Aceh Besar.

"I'm going back to school tomorrow! My old school in Pungee was ruined and there were these people coming in and giving me books, telling me that I could go to school here," he smiled.

Outside, a number of workers were seen still struggling to clear up mud and debris on the school's compound.

Safrizal, whose favorite subject is math, is one of around 177,000 displaced students across Aceh where around 765 school buildings were severely damaged or completely washed away.

On Wednesday, approximately 130 schools, mostly elementary, will reopen, with thousands of students expected to turn up.

"I'm glad that I can still go to school," said 15-year-old Siti Mardiah Hanum, a second-year student at SMU XI senior high school in Lampriet, Banda Aceh.

At the school, around 70 military personnel worked for five days to clear up the mud and rubble, in addition to repainting the building.

According to SMU XI principal, Makmun Daud, only 70 percent of his students had reported to him after the disaster. The fate of the remaining students was still unknown. "Twelve of the teachers died in the tsunami," he told the Post.

Head of Aceh's education office, Anas M. Adam, said that some 130 buildings and 141 emergency schools at refugee camps had been prepared with assistance from many organizations.

"Children whose schools were destroyed by the tsunami are encouraged to go to schools nearest to their camp. No uniform, not even shoes or sandals are required. Just come," Anas said on Tuesday.

He said many school buildings still could not be used, because they were either heavily damaged, overwhelmed by mud and debris or being used as shelters by refugees. The government is currently moving the refugees out of the schools to new locations.

Around 15,000 displaced students are expected to turn up at the re-opened schools this week, while over two thousand teachers and trained volunteers will be on hand to teach them.

Anas admitted that many school children might not aware of Wednesday's program but hoped they would gradually come back to school.

He explained that the schools would be divided into two shifts -- from 8 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The first is to facilitate students who were able to study at the school while the second will be for those who lost their school in the disaster.

The curriculum will be focus more on assignments to help students catch up. "We'll also evaluate and rearrange examination schedules because many missed the last one on Dec. 27," Anas said.

The disaster is estimated to cost the province's education sector some Rp 1 trillion (US$107.52 million), mostly in lost laboratory equipment. All missing documents and school records would be replaced with new ones, while school certificates would be replaced with letters of confirmation.

Supporting the restoration of educational activities, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is distributing 5,000 boxes of complete school and recreational kits for all elementary schools in 13 tsunami-hit districts.

"Getting back to school is very crucial after such a distressing experience. It will give a sense of normalcy and hope, as well as establishing a routine. It is the key of recovery and should help the kids reengage with their future," UNICEF representative in Indonesia Gianfranco Rotigliano said.