Over 12,000 students drop out

Over 12,000 students drop out

JAMBI, Jambi: More than 12,000 elementary school pupils in the
province of Jambi quit their schools during the 1999/2000
academic year due to financial problems, an official said on
Tuesday.

The head of the provincial Ministry of National Education
Office, Dasril Syam, said to The Jakarta Post that the number was
3.25 percent of children aged between seven and 12 years old in
Jambi.

According to Dasril, the number of children going to school in
Jambi had been decreasing from year to year.

In the 1997/1998 academic year 98.7 percent of school-aged
pupils went to school, in the following year only 97.47 percent
of the children could afford their education, he said, without
mentioning the real figures.

"In the 1999/2000 academic year the figures decreased to 95.42
percent, or 344,234 pupils," he said, adding that the figures did
not include those who quit elementary school.

According to Dasril, the stoppage of the social safety net
fund from the government in 1999/2000 played a role in the
decreasing number of children going to school.

"This problem must be addressed properly, otherwise we will
lose our future", he said.

Dasril said he was currently collecting accurate data on
levels of high school student dropout. (33)