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.