Jambi students told to watch TV series

JAKARTA (JP): Junior and senior high school students in Jambi have been instructed to spend a portion of their coming vacation watching a local television series about a child who struggles triumphantly to continue with his studies.

Antara reported yesterday that the six-episode Melati Mekar Setaman (A Garden Full of Blooming Jasmine) will be aired by private television station TPI from Oct. 21 to Oct. 26 to coincide with the students' vacation time.

Head of the Ministry of Education and Culture's Jambi office, H. Madil, said in Jambi yesterday the instruction was issued to help promote the government's compulsory education program.

He did not explain how his office will monitor the instruction given, saying only that teachers are expected to make their students return to school with essays about the series.

"The objective of the series is to motivate students to study and to persuade parents to send their children to school," he said. "For Jambi, we're expecting the series to help us reduce the rising number of school dropouts. Compared to other regions in Sumatra, Jambi has the highest number of dropouts."

By making the series compulsory viewing, the office also hopes to prevent students from hanging out in shopping centers and bus stations, he said. (swe)