Protecting local children's rights still a distant dream

Protecting local children's rights still a distant dream

By Ida Indawati Khouw and Primastuti Handayani

JAKARTA (JP): Two girls living hundreds of kilometers apart
-- Lili in Jakarta and Ani in Ungaran, Central Java -- had their
world shattered one day when their parents told them they had to
stop going to school.

Most parents are now aware that education is among a child's
basic rights, thanks to years of government campaigning. But
Lili and Ani are among the many children who will see their
school days come to an end as more and more parents find it hard
enough to feed their offspring, let alone educate them.

Lili, who lives in a poor area of the otherwise wealthy
Menteng in Central Jakarta, was aware of the difficulties which
her mother, a housemaid, and her father, a taxi-driver, had in
paying her high school fees of Rp 230,000 (US$15.3) this year.
But the news still came as a blow.

"What will I do now," she said.

Her mother, Nuriah, who earns Rp 125,000 a month, said that
life for their family had been even harder in the last three
months because her husband was earning less than normal.

"Less people take taxis now. If he earns Rp 10,000 it has been
quite a good day. Sometimes he only brings home Rp 6,000 after
working for the whole day."

"Feeding five children is very difficult. I asked Lili to stop
going to school because I would prefer to use our limited income
to buy food rather than to finance my children's education," she
said.

However, she added that Lili did not want to become like her
older two sisters, whom she said were "doing nothing" after
graduating only from elementary school.

Nuriah said if food prices continued to rise then she might
also have to ask Lili's younger brother to stop studying.

Ani, a 13-year-old girl from a kampong in Ungaran, Central
Java, could only cry when people asked her if she had been
promoted to the second year of junior high school. Just one month
before her final exam, Ani's parents asked her to stop going to
school because they could no longer pay for her transport.

Ani's school was about nine kilometers from her house and
every day she had to pay Rp 3,000 for a motorcycle taxi to the
main road before catching a public bus.

Ani's mother Wagiyem said that her husband had lost his job as
a carpenter with a small furniture company in February and they
depended entirely on her income as a babysitter in the
neighborhood to survive.

"What can I say? We can't pay for her transport anymore. We
prefer to use the money to eat," she said with tears in her eyes.

Wagiyem, who also used to work as a maid, said her former
employee had provided Rp 30,000 to pay for Ani's school fees.

"She (my former employee) was very angry and said that I
should have asked for more money (so that Ani could continue
school). But I was too ashamed ...," said the mother of two.

Ani's father suggested that she seek work in a factory, but
with so many people losing their jobs there was not much hope of
success.

Wagiyem said she did not want Ani to become a maid like
herself. "I really wanted her to have a better life than mine,
but I never thought that our life could turn upside down like
this."

Children from middle-class families have also had their
troubles.

Four-year-old Titi, whose mother works for an insurance firm,
complained when she was given different tasting milk recently.

Her mother, Avi, confided that she was forced to change Titi's
milk because the price of her favored variety had doubled.

"I had to trick her using the old can with the new milk powder
in it. It's really hard for us to buy the one she likes best,
besides she's just had a baby sister," Avi said.

Avi and her husband Yanto, also an insurance company employee,
used to spend about Rp 300,000 each month on milk, but must now
spend Rp 500,000 on one child only.

"What can I say. Cheaper milk tastes different, but as long as
my children can drink it, it's OK," Avi said.

Fear

In another middle class family the children are not
complaining about milk. William, 10, and Joshua, 9, whose parents
own a grocery in Karang Sembung, 30 kilometers from Cirebon in
West Java, keep asking if they are safe.

In February the small town was hit by riots sparked off by
high food prices and their shop and almost all their belongings
were stolen by looters. The family lost their furniture, TV, a
motorbike. Even the children's school uniforms were taken.

Their father, Budianto Dhanisworo, who is a Chinese-
Indonesian, said that his sons had lived in fear ever since.

Sometimes they become suspicious if stared at, he explained.
"They were very afraid when their mother was late coming home the
other day."

"I am worried that they have been psychologically disturbed.
They should not suffer from such fears. Sometimes they ask me
whether people will hurt them again in the future, a question
which I cannot answer," he said.

From their hiding place, William and Joshua witnessed the
looting of all their possessions, including their favorite toys.

But thanks to the support of their relatives, the two children
have been able to continue at school and the family business is
slowly being rebuilt. However, for safety reasons the family has
moved to Budi's parent's home in Cirebon.