Many Lampung students could be forced to drop out

Many Lampung students could be forced to drop out

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post/Bandarlampung

Twelve-year-old Suparman, who was carrying his three-year-old
brother, cried when they were grabbed by municipal police
personnel at the intersection near the Adipura monument in
Bandarlampung.

Suparman is one of hundreds of street children who was nabbed
in an operation that noon.

"Please sir, don't take me away," pleaded Suparman to the
officers. The firm grip of the officer rendered him helpless as
he was pushed into the truck to be taken to a foster home.

Suparman, from Sawah village in East Tanjungkarang, said that
he was forced to turn to the streets as his father, who works as
a porter at Tugu market, could no longer pay for his schooling.

Suparman had to leave school when he was a fourth grader two
years ago because he was ashamed of being repeatedly asked by his
teacher about overdue school fees.

Thirteen-year-old Pirmansyah, from Gunungsulah subdistrict,
East Tanjungkarang has also faced a similar situation.

Pirmansyah, who now works as a scavenger, is desperately eager
to go back to school. "But my father has no money to pay for the
school fees. If there is someone who wants to pay the fees, I
want to return to school," said Pirmansyah.

According to data at the Lampung Education Office, there are
3,337 elementary school-age children in Lampung who have a
similar fate to that of Suparman and Pirmansyah.

However, according to the secretary of the Indonesian Teachers
Dignity Forum, Gino Vanolie, the true figure could reach tens of
thousands from around one million regular and Islamic elementary
school students in Lampung.

Gino viewed that the Rp 20 billion (US$2.2 million) fund for
scholarships earmarked from the Lampung provincial budget in
addition to the fuel subsidy compensation funds reaching tens of
billions of rupiah were adequate to save thousands of elementary
students from having to drop out of school.

"There is no precise data on the number of students who may be
forced to discontinue their schooling to date. The Lampung
administration claims that there are 124,000 such students, while
the education office asserts that there are 228,000 students.
This discrepancy between the two reports could lead to the
misappropriation of funds," said Gino.

"With the allotted funds of Rp 30 billion per year, it would
not make sense if there are still students dropping out of school
and becoming street children or scavengers," said Gino.

Assistant secretary of economics affairs and development at
the Lampung administration, Haris Hasyim, disclosed that based on
field data in 2004, there were at least 120,000 needy students
who may have to discontinue their schooling.

The provincial administration has earmarked Rp 20 billion for
the education of 120,000 poor students this year.

Head of the Lampung Education Office, Amansyah Singagerda,
however, revealed data indicating that there were 228,000 needy
students.

The data was based on a recent survey conducted early this
year which showed that the number of poor people in Lampung had
increased along with the rise in fuel prices.

According to Haris, the administration will assist all needy
students, especially when the central government has now provided
funds derived from the cut in the fuel subsidy.

"We have allocated funds for this fiscal year. Besides that,
we have also raised the budget for free education. The central
government will later disburse more funds from the fuel subsidy
cut. We are now adjusting the available budget so that the
funding will not overlap," he said.