Over 6m dropouts in recent years

Over 6m dropouts in recent years

JAKARTA: Over six million school-aged children across the
country have dropped out of school recently, according to the
United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

"They do not have the necessary education or skills to later
compete in the job market and therefore will find themselves in
desperate economic trouble," Unicef country representative Steven
Allen said here on Tuesday.

He did not explain why the number of children dropping out of
school was so high, but stressed that a lack of education and
skill could easily lead children and young people into commercial
exploitation or trafficking.

Unicef, in cooperation with a local hotel group, organizes the
so-called Youth Career Development Program -- a six-month
training program aimed at providing dropouts with vocational
skills.

The trainees will be trained in housekeeping, food and
beverage services, laundry, fruit carving and English. --JP