Keeping light of learning amid rot, ruin

The wall surrounding the school grounds appeared to be sturdy two weeks ago, when a group of local councillors visited state elementary school SDN I Kemasan of Polokarto subdistrict in Sukoharjo, Central Java.

The same could not be said of the school itself, which has a student body of 197 and is located a mere 10 kilometers from the provincial government offices.

The ceiling of at least one classroom has almost collapsed due to a termite infestation and four bamboo poles prop it up temporarily, while the class has moved to a storage room to study among gamelan instruments.

Eight rooms in the school show alarming states of disrepair, including the principal's office and the teachers' lounge.

"I am really terrified to study in our classroom," said Muniroh, a fourth grader at the school, adding that she could hear the building creaking throughout class.

"We've already made several requests to the central government for funds to renovate the school. Their latest response was that all funds were being channeled to deal with impacts of the tsunami in Aceh," said principal Sutarno.

The school was constructed in 1973, with additional buildings erected in 1985. During this period, no formal assessments were made on the school's condition, and minor repairs were made by local contractors upon support from the students' parents.

Despite the school's condition, its students take the Scouts championship almost every year. In the arts, they rank among the top in Central Java, with its gamelan troupe placing first in 2003.

Sukoharjo vice regent Muhammad Toha expressed concern about the school to the Post, but said renovations could only be planned for the coming year. "We'll take an assessment in 2006," he said.

-- Text and photos by Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post