Education gets lowest priority in postflood rehab

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For elementary school students, textbooks are very crucial to help them learn their lessons. When the Great Flood of 2002 hit the capital and swept away their belongings, including many books, the students had difficulties in continuing their studies.

"Most students have a great dependency on the textbooks. Since they lost them, the teachers must dictate all lessons instead. It consumes much time and energy," said Sutiardi, a teacher at SD 06 elementary school in Cipinang Muara, East Jakarta.

He was worried that many students would fail their examinations due to the slow progress of their studies unless the schools can provide the textbooks immediately.

Puput, a second-year student at SD 07 in Cipinang Muara, and Andri, a sixth grader at SD 07 in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, were among the students who complained about losing text books.

"Without the books, I have to dictate everything the teachers say and it is too much for me," Puput said.

"I must buy new textbooks if I don't want my preparation for the final test disrupted," said Andri.

Over a month after the floods, many schools are still trying to come to terms with damaged equipment and it is impossible at this point to provide textbooks for all the students who lost theirs.

"We are relying on the city administration's immediate support to provide funds to buy the books," Sutiardi said.

The floods did not only damage 802 school buildings, as stated by data from the administration, but also ruined books in libraries, documents and other school equipment.

Many schools, which were hit hardest, remained in a sad state as the city administration was yet to disburse the rehabilitation funds to renovate the buildings and replace broken equipment.

The city publicly announced that it had allocated exactly Rp 1 million (US$100) for a rehabilitation fund for each damaged school. However, several elementary schools in East Jakarta claimed they had not even received that small amount.

"If the administration takes a long time to disburse our Rp 1 million for the cleaning, how much longer will it take them to repair damaged facilities at schools," grumbled Agus, a janitor at SD 07 which is located about one kilometer from Sutiardi's school.

The administration had also said that it would allocate Rp 24.5 billion for a post-flood rehabilitation program for the elementary level education alone, but no timetable was set for the release of the money.

Meanwhile, Piator Hutapea, a principal of SD 07 in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, said some officials from the administration have come to assess the damage but they did not let him know when the program would start.

The school, which is a stone's throw away from the West Flood Canal, currently is accommodating around 900 students from five severely damaged elementary schools.