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.