Acehnese child beggars dream of school
Acehnese child beggars dream of school
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
There are fears that tens of thousands of children estimated to
have been forced to abandon schooling in Aceh are a time bomb
waiting to explode.
The Child Protection Institute (LPA), a non-governmental
organization, in Banda Aceh claimed on Thursday that more than
150,000 children under the age of 17 had had their education
disrupted by the 26-year-old civil war.
Though official estimates put the figure at 28,000 children,
it is still in excess of the 22,000 security force members
serving in the resources-rich province.
Joni Iskandar, 12, and Ulis, 13, once never dreamed of leaving
school but when war darkened their village's doorsteps two-years
ago they fled to the provincial capital Banda Aceh to beg for
their very survival.
"I wish I could go to school. I don't want to keep begging
like this. Neither does my younger brothers in Meulaboh. But we
have nobody to ask for help, our father's already handicapped," a
crying Joni told The Jakarta Post earlier this week.
The fourth-grade elementary school dropout from Ujong Kalak
village, Meulaboh, West Aceh, said he, his mother Asnida and a 1-
year-old brother earned less than Rp 10,000 a day.
Asnida said any money left over from eating twice a day was
sent home to her three children and husband who was left
paralyzed from the neck down after he was tortured by Indonesian
security forces.
"My second and third children have left school, too, and the
fourth is crippled and dumb. They live with their father," she
said.
Her husband Zainuddin, 35, had been a construction worker.
After a day of begging at the Taman Sari intersection, the
three sleep in a shanty on Jalan Seulawah. It costs Rp 40,000 a
month. "We haven't got enough to pay this month's rent yet."
Joni said he longed to return to school to study alongside
children his own age but realized the family was too poor for him
to be able to fulfill his dream.
He is not alone. Ulis, a 13-year-old girl, also roams the same
street.
"I come from Tapaktuan village. I haven't attended school for
two years now. I joined the others here to survive," Ulis told
the Post.
After being forced to abandon school in the fifth grade, Ulis
said she still wished to return. "But I have no money. My parents
are divorced."
Hundreds of children can be observed begging in Banda Aceh.
They sleep wherever they can find space and there are fears that
many are addicted to drugs, including glue inhaled for a cheap
but dangerous high.
Psychologist Nurjannah Nitura said every street child had the
potential to learn and contribute to society.
The psychologist suggested the government consider alternative
education methods to get the most out of the children.
Asked about the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam regional
administration's responsibility for the children, Syahbuddin AR,
head of Aceh's education office, said funds had been allocated to
solve the issue.
He put the figure of children deprived access to education at
28,000.
He said Rp 10 billion had been allotted from the regional
budget for 2002 to, among other things, rebuild torched schools.
Schools and teachers have been fair game in the dirty war.
In his explanation to the Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence (Kontras), Syahbuddin said the allocations
had already reached the East Aceh and North Aceh regencies. Other
regencies would be paid soon.
"Just imagine what would happen to this province if the 28,000
youngsters now denied education later became 'rebels' opposing
the authorities that ignore them," Syahbuddin said.
The director of LPA, Abdul Gani Nurdin, called on the relevant
parties to pay special attention to the issue as part of a
comprehensive solution to the bloody conflict.
"A majority of the children have lost their parents and homes
and they are now street children begging from motorists for
survival," he said.
He suggested the government send them back to school to
prevent them from taking revenge in the future.