Batang Regency intensifies equal education programme

Batang (ANTARA) - The Batang Regency Government, Central Java, is intensifying the equal education programme for school dropouts by opening a free Package C programme targeting 2,000 children in the initial phase. Batang Regent Faiz Kurniawan in Batang on Tuesday said that this situation is a pressing issue requiring swift intervention from various parties. “Our priority this year is the mass Package C programme. We provide free Package C services targeting 2,000 children,” he said. Based on the Basic Education Data as of the end of April 2026, there were 551 primary school students, 1,400 junior secondary students, and 1,145 senior secondary/vocational students who have left the education system. Dropout cases, he said, do not occur suddenly but are influenced by a number of interconnected factors, from family economic conditions, internal student motivation, to weak oversight functions from the government side. “This issue is indeed multi-factorial. There are family-level economic factors, factors from the students themselves, and of course from the government, especially in terms of oversight mechanisms,” he said. In addition to providing learning assistance, he said, his side is also collaborating with village officials as the frontline for community oversight and will provide rewards in the form of financial assistance to each village that succeeds in reducing dropout rates in its area. “We give rewards in the form of financial assistance for villages with the lowest dropout rates. Through a combination of education cost assistance and strengthening the role of villages, we are optimistic that we can reduce dropout numbers,” he said.