Close of school brings misery to students
Close of school brings misery to students
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
Muhammad Nur, an elementary school teacher, scolds his students
several times as they are not concentrating on the lesson. Nur is
irritated as the students often shift their gaze out of the
classroom to the paddy fields outside. The class is being given
in an open part of a house in Pattotongan subdistrict, Maros
regency, South Sulawesi province.
The students have studied in the open classroom for the past
week, after their school was barricaded by Muhammad Daeng Sila, a
school caretaker, who claimed that the school was built on his
family's land. Sila closed the building in protest against the
Maros government which has not paid his salary although he signed
a contract to be employed as the school caretaker in October last
year.
The principal of the 16 Pattotongan State Elementary School,
Muhammad Yunus, said on Saturday that initially, Yunus only
expressed concern that he had not been paid since October last
year. But, he finally lost his cool last week and closed the
school, preventing the teachers and students from entering the
building. Now the area around the school is being used to dry
unhusked rice.
"We cannot do anything except look for an alternative
classroom. We are lucky as one of residents here, Muchtar, was
willing to spare part of his house to be used as a classroom,"
said Yunus. Despite the closure, Yunus said that classes had to
continue because next month the sixth graders would have an
examination.
The makeshift classroom is actually far from ideal as the open
room is a kind of storeroom, in which several gunny sacks packed
with unhusked rice are piled up on the floor in the corner.
There are paddy fields as far as the eyes can see.
The landlord uses part of his house to spread unhusked rice on
large mats, which creates a lot of dust. Some students complained
that they suffered from itchiness.
The 16 Pattotongan State Elementary School has six classrooms,
160 students and five teachers, including a principal. In the new
arrangement there two large storerooms in the house and the
classes are held in them interchangeably.
"The location and the situation are below standard, but we
have no other alternative," said Yunus.
The school building, which has been sealed, was built by the
government in 1961.
Yunus said that he had reported the problem to the Maros
government. "However, to date (Saturday), there is no sign that
the government will attempt to resolve the problem," he said.
He hopes that the government will build a new school building
in another location so that the students can continue their
classes in a decent manner.