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.