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)