Free school for poor children launched
Free school for poor children launched
JAKARTA (JP): A free school for children from poor families
was opened on Monday by a non-governmental organization as part
of its efforts to help educate teenage school leavers in the
city.
The school, jointly funded by the Pelita Ilmu Foundation and a
local office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, has places
for 40 students between the ages of 13 and 16, and has so far
enrolled 31 children from the neighborhood area.
"We want to make this school a qualified one that produces
skillful and intelligent students, although they come from poor
families," said Firdaus, the headmaster of SMP Persamaan Remaja
Masa Depan, after the opening ceremony.
The school employs 15 teachers, most of whom are graduates
from the Jakarta Institute of Teacher Training (IKIP) or the
University of Indonesia, and offers a curriculum similar to other
junior high schools (SMP) in Indonesia.
Besides the compulsory subjects, it also provides vocational
training, such as cooking and free English courses during the
three-year school period.
Adopting the official curriculum for junior high schools
nationwide, the newly launched school does not require its
students to wear a uniform. Instead it provides free writing
books for the students, most of whom live in shanty huts.
Firdaus pointed out that class begins at 9 a.m. so as to allow
students to undertake part-time jobs, such as selling
newspapers, in the morning.
Teachers in the school are paid Rp 7,500 (US$1.10) per
arrival. Of the Rp 7,500 fee, government's subsidy accounts for
only Rp 2,000, excluding free textbooks, while the foundation has
to bear all the operation costs.
The 31 students who turned up for Monday's launch looked happy
with the opportunity given them. Many of them had good grades in
elementary school.
There are 33 other free schools like this in Jakarta but each
is run by different organizations and supported by the education
ministry's office. The program is meant to reduce the 90,000
children who quit school in the wake of the economic crisis that
hit the country in 1997.
The crisis has badly affected the education of many poor
children, who can no longer afford to pay school fees.
Registration alone may cost up to Rp 375,000, contradicting the
government's nine-year basic education program.
The Pelita Ilmu Foundation was established in 1989, focusing
at first on community health. For the past few years it has
actively provided information about HIV and AIDS to teenagers and
the general public.(04)