Four Vacant Primary School Buildings in Mataram to Become Regional Assets

Four primary school buildings in Mataram have been left empty after a merger carried out by the Mataram Education Agency. The vacant buildings will be turned into regional assets, while some will be repurposed. Head of the Mataram Education Agency, Yusuf, said all school building assets affected by the merger will be handed back to the Mataram City Government. The repurposing of the buildings will be determined by the city government. “All students have been distributed, and today we are starting to distribute the teachers. The empty school buildings will be handed over to the city to become assets,” Yusuf said in an interview on Thursday. Yusuf revealed that one of the four officially closed school buildings, SDN 19 Mataram, will be converted into a community health centre. The other buildings are still under discussion by the Mataram City Government. Meanwhile, the SDN 41 Cakranegara building will be temporarily used as additional classrooms for SDN 10 Mataram. “The rooms will be used temporarily because some students attend in the afternoon and some in the morning,” Yusuf explained. Previously, the Head of Primary Education at the Mataram Education Agency, Syarafudin, explained that eight primary schools had been merged. The details are: SDN 1 Cakranegara merged with SDN 10 Cakranegara; SDN 36 Ampenan with SDN 20 Ampenan; SDN 11 Ampenan with SDN 14 Ampenan; and SDN 15 Mataram with SDN 19 Mataram. As a result of the merger of eight schools, Syarafudin disclosed that four school buildings are no longer used for teaching and learning activities. He confirmed that all these building assets will be returned to the Mataram City Government for management. “The buildings are vacated and will be handed over to the city. Their future function will be discussed further,” Syarafudin stated. Regarding teaching staff, the Mataram Education Agency has ensured there is no accumulation or overlapping of duties in one main school. Teachers will be distributed evenly to schools in need. “No teacher will have a double role,” Syarafudin clarified.