C. Java junior high grads to skip high school

C. Java junior high grads to skip high school

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Banjarnegara

Eighty percent of 10,190 junior high school graduates in the
Central Java regency of Banjarnegara did not continue their
studies at senior high school this year because of economic
problems, says a local official.

Deputy Banjanegara Regent Hadi Supeno said that most junior
high school graduates were forced to work on the family farm
instead of going to school because of poverty and their parents
low awareness of the importance of education.

"Only 20 percent of graduates of 87 junior high schools in the
regency went to senior high school and this will certainly affect
the quality of human resources and preserve the poverty in the
regency," he said

Hadi said that many local people could not send their children
to school because of their economic circumstance and many others
had yet to realize the importance of the education program toward
improving social welfare and social status.

"Many parents have seen their school-age children as assets to
help grow their plants on their farmland and have decided sending
them to school is a waste of money," he said.

He said the local administration planned to launch an
education and health campaign in rural areas in the regency next
year to improve local people's awareness in the education and
health fields.

He added that the regency has been hit by endemic tropical
diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and skin infections.

Data from the local administration shows that of 881,300
people in the regency, 79,200 had never gone to school, 137,700
were elementary school graduates and dropouts, 66,000 had
graduated from junior high school, 14,600 had graduated from
senior high school and only 3,200 had graduated from universities
and academies. Of 273 villages in the regency, 174 were poor and
underdeveloped.