Lack of money, space keep kids from school

Lack of money, space keep kids from school

PEKANBARU, Riau: An average 400,000 of three million
elementary school students drop out of school annually due to
financial constraints and the limited capacity of junior high
schools to accommodate new students, an official says.

Director of Secondary Education Hammid Muhammad at the
Ministry of National Education said on Saturday the government
had expanded the capacity of junior high schools by 12,000
classrooms each year, but still could not meet demand.

"We are short of classrooms for incoming elementary school
graduates, especially in rural and remote areas," he said. -- JP