Rakyat Miskin school rekindles hope for the poor

Rakyat Miskin school rekindles hope for the poor

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The situation at the Sekolah Rakyat Miskin (school for the poor)
in Kuningan, South Jakarta, looked very quiet on a fine morning.
It was already 8:30 a.m., half an hour before classes, but no one
was around.

"The children usually arrive here 10 or 15 minutes before
class. It's still early," said Nena, a 24-year-old single mother
who is one of the school's administrators.

Fifteen minutes later, four-year-old Elsa, accompanied by her
parents, arrived at the school, mostly constructed with bamboo.

"Good morning," Elsa's mother, Indri, said to Nena with a
smile.

"Good morning," said Nena. "You weren't here yesterday, what
was wrong?"

"Elsa was sick. She still has a mild fever actually, but she
wanted to come to school" said Indri.

She said Elsa enjoyed going to the school so much that the
little girl insisted on going that morning.

"Elsa is not the only one who likes being at the school. The
others also enjoy their time here so much that they are rarely
absent," Nena said.

Nena was not exaggerating. More children arrived with laughter
later as if they had come to a party instead of school.

"My son, Syarif, really enjoys going to school. He said the
teacher teaches him a lot of fun things to do every day," said
Atun, a 28-year-old housewife whose husband works as a public
minivan driver.

Zaenuddin, 38, said the same thing as his five-year-old son
Yadi never wanted to miss school.

"I'm happy that my son loves the school because he can learn
how to read and write there. I'm very grateful that there is
still a school that provides the children with basic education at
no cost," said the ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver.

Tucked away behind busy Jl. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South
Jakarta, the open-air Sekolah Rakyat Miskin -- with classes from
Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. -- was established on
Sept. 1, 2002, to help provide education for the poor.

"Parents who wish to enroll their children in the school only
need to fill out an application form, explaining their financial
status, and they don't have to pay even one rupiah," said the
school's teacher, Sri Wahyuni, a third-year student at Jakarta
State University.

Sri added that all books and stationary, including a
whiteboard, plastic carpet and individual tables, were provided
for by the school.

"The children only need to come here, sit and learn. That's
all. They don't need to pay anything," she told The Jakarta Post.

To the parents of the 34 children, who are currently enrolled
at the school, such a situation is a privilege they rarely have
in the rough city of Jakarta where everything has a price tag.

"I'm very thankful to the school because my five-year-old
daughter Sophia can read and write without me having to pay for
it. I want her to learn as much as she can so she won't be like
me, you know," said 25-year-old Siti, who works as a maid at a
nearby household.

Indeed, to Siti and the other parents, Sekolah Rakyat Miskin
has not only helped their children in learning how to read and
write, but it has also given them hope -- a hope that one day
their children will have a better life than they do now.