City's illiterate women face a confusing world

City's illiterate women face a confusing world

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Finding illiterate people, even in a metropolis like Jakarta, is
perhaps easier than trying to understand how they perceive the
world without the ability to read or write.

And furthermore, why they stay that way.

"My older brother picked me up in the middle of my third day
at elementary school, carrying a wooden stick and threatening to
hit me if I refused to go home," said Sarmi, a 42-year old maid
working for a family in South Jakarta.

"That was my last day at school and I cannot read until now,"
she added.

Sarmi is among the 10.6 million illiterate women in Indonesia.
The Ministry of National Education reported that in 2003, the
female illiteracy rate of 13.84 percent was twice as high as that
of males. The government is designing a comprehensive program to
cut this rate by half over the next four years as part of the
country's efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

The woman, originated from Grobogan village, two hours away
from Semarang, Central Java, was forced to leave school to
babysit her younger brother and wait on her family's warung, as
her mother had to work in the city.

The incident, that day, has led her into trivial yet
irritating troubles due to her illiteracy, such as taking the
wrong bus or angkot because she could not read directions, or
being yelled at by her employer for buying wrong items because
she could not recognize the labels.

"It's lucky I don't have children that I have to teach," the
unmarried woman added. Such condition, she admitted, made her
feel it unnecessary for her to start to learn how to read and
write.

"Sometimes I really want to read what's in the newspapers or
magazines," she said. "But, I do not have the time or a tutor."

Several other illiterate women in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta
were luckier than Sarmi. Despite living in a very poor part of
Jakarta, they caught the attention of a local social worker
willing to teach them simple ABCs from the beginning.

"I quit elementary school when I was forced into marriage by
my parents," said Noni, a 40-year old native Jakartan living with
her extended family, most of whose female members are illiterate.

The mother of two has long had the urge to learn to read and
write, especially, when her children started attending school. "I
do not know what's on my children's report cards," she said,
adding that her older son used to take advantage of her
illiteracy by lying about his grades.

Troublesome situations like the inability to fill in her
children's school forms made her realize that she needed to learn
how to read.

Several of her neighbors, experiencing similar bothersome
situations due to their illiteracy, were even less fortunate
because they were banned from attending school simply for being
daughters, not sons.

"All my brothers went to school but my parents refused to send
me saying that I will eventually be a wife," Noni's neighbor
said.

The meeting with Herry Insiami Koestiono, a kindergarten
teacher cum social worker, had been a blessing for Noni and her
neighbors.

"Bu Koes patiently taught us how to read," Noni said, adding
that the group of illiterate women from the area gathered in
Insiami's house three times a week during the evening.

Insiami, who has been teaching illiterates in Bukit Duri for
free since 1968, said that she intended to teach both female and
male students. "But, the fact is there are more women than men
who cannot read."

Her students, she added, were mostly women over 30 who either
had no chance of going to school or were forced to quit school
before they were properly literate.

"Teaching them how to read needs more patience, but as they
start to gain confidence by gaining ability, the effort pays
off," Insiami said.

The group of women are now able to read what their children's
report cards say, and the name of the nearby supermarket. "It is
nicer to be able to read," Noni said with a grateful smile
towards her teacher. (003)