Aceh schools set to reopen in emergency mode

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and R. Berto Wedhatama, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe

"Mak (Mom), I miss school. Don't let me to stay here for good -- otherwise I can't go to school," eight-year-old Syafriani, close to tears, tells her mother at an emergency shelter in the state high school SMUN 1 campus in Nisam regency, North Aceh.

Syafriani, a resident of Alue Dua hamlet, Simpang Empat Sandi district, has been taking refuge at the school for more than two weeks in war-torn Aceh.

It is unlikely that Syafriani can follow her peers in other regions as they return to school on Monday, as the situation remains uncertain in Aceh.

As many as 576 schools in the province have been burned down since war between government troops and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels broke out in mid-May. It is not clear who is responsible for the arson, as both the TNI and GAM blame each other.

Other students and their families have been forced to seek refuge away from home, and one estimate reports 40,000 Acehnese students are no longer able to attend school.

Another refugee, Juhama, said that the school in her village started last Wednesday, but she was able to take her son Ibrahim there only the following day.

"I didn't know if my son had been raised to the second grade or not, because we haven't paid the school fees for three months, and the school hasn't given us his report card," said Juhama, who lives in a refugee camp in Cot Meurong village, Dayah Terpadu district.

She said villagers in her district were only allowed to go 100 meters from the village for two months, before security forces took them to a refugee camp. The ban effectively prevented them from going to work or farming.

"My other child is still in elementary school. But how can she continue her studies if we can't go to her old school to register for the new academic year?" she asked.

Head of the North Aceh education board Umar Arkhady claimed that the martial law administration, in cooperation with the civilian administration and school principals, had established an emergency scheme for the students in refugee camps or those whose school had been burned down.

"We have provided schools in makeshift tents, and have arranged that refugee children take classes at the schools nearest them in the afternoons, after the regular classes in the morning," Umar told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

"All of the residents (in North Aceh) have been informed about this," he said, adding that registration requirements and school fees had been waived for students under the emergency scheme. "We will take care of that afterwards. Just go to school and please, don't worry about other things."

The reconstruction of burned schools has started in some places, such as in Juli district, Bireun regency. Several residents were seen building three classrooms to replace the six- classroom school that once stood here.

One of the workers said they were going to build a guard post in the area to safeguard Leubok Iboh elementary school.

Mahathir, a fifth-grade student at the school, told the Post that first- to third-year students would use the classrooms in the morning, while fourth- to sixth-year students would use them in the afternoon.

"All of our textbooks were burned in the fire, and we have yet to find new ones," he said.

Suryono, a resident of Saree district, Pidie regency, said that only two classrooms at his son's elementary school had survived the fire that razed the school in May.

"Fortunately, some of the teachers live next to the school, so the students can use their houses as emergency classrooms. But the students need one more classroom, so the first-year and second-year students will take turns using a classroom," Suryono said.