'I work hard for my child's education'

Many observers and parents have complained about the cost of quality education, accusing the central government of failing to fully subsidize education, especially for the poor. The Jakarta Post asked residents for their thoughts on the issue.

Umi, 38, is a housewife and entrepreneur in Palmerah, Central Jakarta. She and her husband are divorced, and she is raising her two daughters on her own.

It is getting tough to find the money to pay the school fees every month. My eldest daughter will finish junior high school in one or two months, and I have to find millions of rupiah to pay an entrance fee if I want her to go to a good school.

Keeping my daughters in school is not only about paying tuition, but also buying them books, giving them pocket money and paying their transportation expenses. Books get more expensive every year and transportation fares have doubled because of the fuel price hike. How can we live with all that?

I wish the government would think about single parents like me when they make policies on education or when they think about embezzling state money. I believe they could ease our burden if they had a conscience, which is the only thing they are lacking.

Idin, 40, is a civil servant at the City Sanitation Agency. He lives with his wife and their three children in Tanjung Barat, Jagakarsa, South Jakarta:

I work hard every day just to keep my children in school.

Unlike other civil servants who go home early at 2 p.m., I pick up garbage at markets every day from early in the morning to late in the afternoon, for less than a million rupiah a month. I do not even have time to look for another source of income.

That is why my house and property gets smaller every year because I have to sell off pieces of my land to pay school fees and other basic needs.

I wonder if the government ever thinks about people like me, who work so hard to help keep the country clean.

--The Jakarta Post