More 300,000 made literate

More 300,000 made literate

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Military Command, in cooperation with the office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, has made 300,393 people living in Jakarta, Tangerang and Bekasi literate since last year.

Lt. Col. Didi Supandi, chief of the information office of the military command, said yesterday that the figures were recorded during the anti-illiteracy drive launched in the 1995/96 fiscal year.

Most of the illiterates are 10 to 44 years old and from low- income backgrounds, he said.

For the 1996/97 drive 31,030 more illiterate people will be taught to read and write, Didi said, adding that latest record made by the end of the fifth Five-Year Development Plan (Pelita V) indicated that there are 152,391 illiterate people in Jakarta, Tangerang and Bekasi out of a population of more than 12 million people, Antara reported yesterday.

Didi did not say why the anti-illiteracy campaigns had not been extended to Bogor, which, together with Tangerang and Bekasi, are the buffer zones for the capital city.

The Jakarta Military Command is determined to eradicate illiteracy in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi by the end of 1999.

According to Didi, the main constraint in teaching the illiterates was their poor motivation. "Most of them have to spend their time making ends meet not studying," Didi said. (sur)