Acehnese kids get back to school

Nani Afrida and Dedy Ardiansyah, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh/Meulaboh

As the sun rose over the devastated city of Banda Aceh on Wednesday morning, Maizul, a 40-year-old school teacher, was standing in front of a classroom at one of the city's schools.

While standing, she looked at a group of students chatting on the school grounds, and suddenly her eyes filled with tears. "I am moved that they are so high-spirited," said Maizul as she wiped away her tears.

Her students arrived at school on Wednesday, as many schools in the province were reopened.

The students did not have any classes on Wednesday because their school building, the Banda Aceh High School No. 1, was still filled with mud. They only reregistered themselves with the teachers and then returned to their homes or their displaced persons shelters.

The prestigious state school used to have an enrollment of 1,200 students before the tsunami disaster on Dec. 26 But, on Wednesday, only about 800 students turned up.

Many of those were in a sorry state, despite their high spirits. Some students wore school uniforms and shoes, but many others only wore donated tee shirts and sandals.

Eka, for example, said she no longer had a school uniform because all of her belongings were swept away.

"I am glad that I have been able to return to school, but at the same time, I am also sad because the condition of the school is now totally different," said the 15-year-old.

The official announcement that the schools were to be reopened was declared by the Minister of National Education, Bambang Soedibyo, during his visit to West Aceh regency on Aceh's western coast earlier in the week. During the visit, Bambang told reporters that the central government would restore the entire education system in Aceh, and he believed it could be completed by 2009.

In order to achieve the target, the government was preparing a grand plan, he said. The education rehabilitation would be accomplished in three steps. First, will be to reregister students, schools and teachers, then, the reconstruction of school buildings and finally the improvement of educational quality. He said that the government was allocating Rp 376 billion (US$41.7 million) for education rehabilitation in the province this year and the money would be taken from the state budget.

The effort seems to be a daunting task for the government as over 765 school buildings throughout Aceh were severely damaged or washed away by the tsunami.

Due to severe damage to many schools, a great number of students had to study in damaged buildings or in makeshift schools set up at their displaced persons shelters.

Eka, meanwhile, could be considered relatively lucky as she will be able to resume her studies a her previous school. But, there are many other students who have had to study in tents at the camps, including Ulfa Amna, an elementary school student in Lhok Nga, Banda Aceh.

Ulfa was seen studying at temporary school set up by the United Nations's Children Fund (UNICEF) at her camp, along with her friends. On Wednesday, they studied math, art and composition on a tarpaulin "floor" inside a tent in Lhok Nga.

"I am happy that I have many friends here and we can play together. But, I am longing for my old school," said Ulfa softly, quoted as saying by detik.com news portal.