France to help build Aceh school

JAKARTA: The French Ambassador to Indonesia Renaud Vignal has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of National Education's director general of elementary and junior high education, Indra Djati Sidi, to help build a vocational school in Aceh.

Under the agreement, France will provide a grant of 100,000 euro (approximately Rp 1.16 billion) to renovate classrooms at SMK Negeri 2 in Banda Aceh, according to a press statement released by the education ministry on Wednesday.

It added that another grant of 770,000 euro (Rp 8.93 billion) would be donated by several French private companies, which were not identified, to help equip and furnish the school. The latter would be specified in another agreement.

Based on the agreement, the national education ministry will be responsible for developing a detailed project plan for the school's rehabilitation. --JP