Falling school enrollment puzzle Yogya

Falling school enrollment puzzle Yogya

Singgir Kartana, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

In the 1970s and 1980s, elementary schools began to spring up
in the city. Yogyakarta, known as the "city of students" in
recognition as its position as a center of education, saw new
schools being built in every regency.

Now things have reached a turning point. Many of the schools
built as a show of then president Soeharto's commitment to
education, have had to close down or merge because there are not
enough children to fill them.

Many people attribute the declining number of pupils each year
to the success of the state-sponsored family planning program.

Over the last two years, more than 138 primary schools in
Yogyakarta province have been running low on students. The local
government has adopted a policy of regrouping or merging the
schools in those areas where the number of school-age children
has dwindled.

Bantul regency holds the record for regrouping, with 107
schools being merged into 50. In Sleman regency and Yogya
municipality, 38 schools have been reduced to 19, including the
closure of three schools which had less than 20 pupils.

In 2000, Gunungkidul regency's 38 primary schools were merged
into 18, which was followed by the merger of 10 other schools
into five in 2001. There is no available data on school
attendance or mergers in Kulonprogo regency.

Interestingly, the elementary school in Wonolagi village in
Playen, Gunungkidul, currently has only six students, comprising
two sixth graders, one fifth grader, one fourth grader and two
first graders. Despite the small number of students, the school
has not been closed because it is the only one in Wonolagi
village.

"Wonolagi would otherwise have no more schools," Sulistiyono,
the head of the pedagogy section at Gunungkidul's education
office, told The Jakarta Post.

Different criteria are applied to the merger of meagerly
attended schools, according to the regency concerned. In
Gunungkidul, for example, schools are merged if their students
number less than 100 each, while in Bantul the minimum number of
students is set at 150.

"The regent has ruled that if schools within one kilometer of
each other have less than 150 pupils each, they must be merged,"
explained Tenang Ngatini, the principal of the Mandingmas I
elementary school in Bantul, which has been merged with two other
schools.

Yogyakarta's elementary schools will likely continue to
decrease in number over the next few years. Particularly those in
Sleman, where there are already plans for more schools to be
regrouped next year.

"Some 42 schools have been proposed for merger," said Kuncoro,
a staff member of the regency's primary education office.

Quality factor

However, some people do not believe that this situation is the
result of the state's family planning program. They believe that
the emergence of private elementary schools, which are seen as
offering better-quality educations for their students than state-
run schools, has had a hand in the dearth of students at state
schools.

And the rivalry between private and state elementary schools
is heating up. The Islamic elementary school Muhammadiyah I
Sumbermulyo, for example, is located near another private school,
the Catholic Kanisius Ganjuran, and the state-run Kaligondang and
Sumbermulyo II schools.

Of these four elementary schools, Sumbermulyo II is in the
direst condition. It will close down next year because it has
fewer than 50 students. The other three will survive because they
each have over 150 students. In fact, Muhammadiyah I has for the
last three years rejected new students because its classrooms are
already full.

"Regardless of the status or location of a school, as long as
it provides a quality education parents will be interested in
sending their children there," commented Suparsih, a teacher at
the Pertiwi 50 kindergarten in Bambanglipuro, Bantul.

Meanwhile, the policy of merging schools eventually will
create problems regarding the assignment of teachers and the
arrangement of the assets of merged schools. For the moment, when
schools are merged all of the teachers from the schools involved
are employed at the main school into which the others were
merged. The furniture from the closed schools is moved to the
main school, and classrooms that are no longer occupied are
turned into libraries.

"Assets located a long way from main schools or merged ones
will be put under the care of relevant regents. Any party wishing
to use these assets must seek a permit from the regents through
the local education offices," said Sulistiyono.

It is hoped that the assets of closed schools will not open an
opportunity for corruption by officials. But more importantly,
the policy of merging schools must ensure effective teaching and
efficient spending on the part of the school system, in order to
enhance the quality of education for our children.