Illiteracy fight begins with adults

Illiteracy fight begins with adults

JAKARTA (JP): Fighting illiteracy must start with adults
because they determine the future of their children, a leading
campaigner against illiteracy said over the weekend.

Singgih Praptanugraha, who heads a special government
institution for teaching adults, said that adults strongly
influenced their children.

Literate parents are more likely to encourage their children
to go to school because they understand the value of education
for their children's future, Singgih said.

They could also prevent delinquency, he said, noting that
children of illiterate parents were likely to become delinquents.

"With their greater knowledge, they can teach children not to
be mischievous," he said in connection with International
Literacy Day today.

Singgih heads the Studio for Learning Activity (SKB), a
government-run learning institution established in 1982 as part
of the government's drive to eradicate illiteracy in Jakarta.

The government has made fighting illiteracy one of the
cornerstones of its development policy in the last 30 years.

The campaign, which won Indonesia international awards, has
lowered the illiteracy rate among people 10 years and older from
31.5 million or 39 percent of the population in 1971, to 19.5
million, or 12.6 percent of the population.

The government hopes to eradicate illiteracy by 2000.

Official statistics show that illiteracy is chronic among
people aged 45 years and above, accounting for 12.6 million or
34.4 percent of people in that age group.

International Literacy Day fell on Sept. 8 but a tight
schedule forced the government to hold the commemoration
today. (09)