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.