Citibank and UNICEF to help finance government schools

Citibank and UNICEF to help finance government schools

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The United Nations Children's Funds (UNICEF) launched on Thursday
a community program aimed at improving the quality of elementary
education and creating an efficient and transparent management
system in schools in some of the country's poorer areas.

Sponsored by giant international bank Citigroup Indonesia, the
Creating Learning Communities for Children (CLCC) program will
reach 19,900 students and 650 teachers from 85 schools, and 400
public figures in the towns of Sukabumi, Indramayu, Surakarta and
Tulungagung.

The program will run until 2006, with the U.S.-based bank
contributing US$132,000 through its community service program
called Citibank Peka for the initial year.

"We hope our cooperation with UNICEF can inspire other areas
and institutions to improve their education quality by developing
the same program," Citibank country business manager Barry
Lesmana said.

UNICEF Representative in Indonesia Steven Allen said the areas
were selected based on their economic and geographic situations.

"We agree with the (Indonesian) government that we should
concentrate on the four areas as they have the weakest social
indicators, including poor nutrition," said Allen.

Indonesia ranks the lowest among other Asia-Pacific countries
in terms of contribution to education.

Under the program, each school will receive $200 a year for
its operational costs, such as maintenance of buildings, as well
as providing libraries and books.

The remaining $115,000 will be used to train teachers and
schools' committees to enrich their knowledge and skills.

"The program encourages the whole community to participate in
schools activities as we want them to feel that the schools
belong not only to the government, but to them. Therefore, they
will take care of the schools and improve their quality," said
Ditta Amahorseya, the Citigroup Indonesia's corporate affairs
head.