40,000 people in C. Sulawesi illiterate

40,000 people in C. Sulawesi illiterate

PALU, Central Sulawesi: At least 40,000 people between the ages of 10 to 45 of eight regencies in Central Sulawesi are illiterate, the provincial education office in Palu revealed.

Uhra Lamaraunda, head of the office, said in Palu on Thursday that except in the provincial capital, the illiterate citizens were distributed almost evenly across the regencies of Donggala, Poso, Banggai, Tolitoli, Morowali, Buol, the Banggai Islands and Parigi Moutong.

She attributed the high rate of illiteracy to the unfavorable geographic conditions of Central Sulawesi and the recall of most of the teaching personnel assigned to the region.

With a budget allocation of around Rp 2 billion, Lamaraunda said the office had set a target of 3,800 people in their 2003 literacy program, through a new method of community participation, aside from the conventional teaching method. -- Antara