Crisis impacts on education

JAMBI: Thousands of children in the province are on the verge of dropping out of school because their parents can no longer afford to send them to school, an official has said.

Soegito Soedarmo, an official in the local social affairs office here, said the sharp decline in many families' income had left them unable to send their children to school, despite the government's decision to waive school tuition fees.

"During the 1997/1998 school year, the number of drop outs in the city of Jambi was 8.740 children. This figure is expected to increase by 40 percent in the 1998/1999 year," he said as quoted by Antara yesterday.

He said the overall number of dropouts in the province could rise above 40,000.

He added that the only way to arrest this worrying trend was for the community to pitch in and help families facing difficulties in whatever way possible during these troubled times.