Acehnese students rally for education

BANDA ACEH: More than a hundred students staged a demonstration in the city on Thursday, calling on the government to save the education program that has been disrupted by the prolonged conflict in the province over the last ten months.

The demonstrators said the local government should repair hundreds of school buildings that have been burned down during the conflict.

"Aceh will be facing a lost generation in the next two decades unless the damaged schools are repaired and children are encouraged to go to school," said a demonstrator.

According to data at the local administration, 400 school buildings were burned down and 70,000 students had to stop studying because of the prolonged conflict.