Bantul announces education initiative

Bantul announces education initiative

BANTUL, Yogyakarta: As part of efforts to raise the quality of
human resources, the Bantul regency government announced plans on
Wednesday to provide 12 years of education for all residents.

The program will be implemented next year and will cost the
regency government some Rp 3.6 billion (US$360,000) a year.

A large portion of the money will be channeled to students
from poor families to allow them to remain in school at least
through high school.

Students in Indonesia normally spend six years in elementary
school, three years in junior high and three years in high
school. According to government data, last year in Bantul 112 out
of 12,000 students dropped out of elementary school, and 2,791
out of 11,000 students dropped out of junior high school.
However, local authorities believe the dropout rate is much
higher. -- JP