Pre-school education unpopular

Pre-school education unpopular

SURABAYA: Most of Indonesia's children do not receive proper
pre-school education for a variety of reasons -- ranging from the
government's inability to offer local programs to poverty, an
official said.

Director General of Informal Education and Youth Affairs Fasli
Jalal said that only 2.13 million of the 12.23 million children
between the ages of four and six could attend pre-school
programs, along with either play groups or kindergarten.

Fasli said that, in a paper read by Director of Pre-school
Education Hutomo, many local governments do not see pre-school
education as a priority, while many parents simply cannot afford
to send children to kindergarten.

The government set up the Directorate of Pre-school Education
only in March of last year.

It previously launched the regulation of nine years' of
compulsory school for children in 1993. But the government has
fallen short of funding to run the same program for children
below school age. -- Antara