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.