School buildings in terrible repair

PALANGKARAYA, Central Kalimantan: Nearly half of the 2,724 elementary school buildings in the province are in dire condition needing immediate repairs.

Siswanto Adi, deputy governor in charge of people's welfare, said on Saturday that 1,097 school buildings were badly damaged.

He conceded that they needed to be renovated but noted that the province only had resources to repair about 104 school buildings per year.

"To repair all the damaged elementary schools needs 10 years," he remarked during a hearing with the provincial council.

As quoted by Antara, he urged the central government to help allocate more funds to support the province's education.

He added that apart from funds to repair educational infrastructures, greater incentives were needed for teachers in remote areas of the province.