School operates in rundown state

School operates in rundown state

Singgir Kartana, Contributor/Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta has long been famous as a city of education, a city where thousands from across the country and from abroad study, thanks to the wide choice of fields of study as well as comprehensive teaching and learning facilities.

However, not all the schools here have adequate facilities, especially those located in the more remote parts of the province. Sometimes, they are too inadequate to be termed a school due to their educational facilities being way below minimum standards.

State-run Wonolagi elementary school in the rocky, hilly cluster of Wonolagi, Ngleri village, Playen subdistrict, Gunungkidul, is an example. Located on a 1,600 square meter limestone plot, the school, built in 1970 and comprising seven classrooms and an office, looks desperate.

All the classrooms are extensively damaged. The walls are peeling, the roof leaks during the rainy season and there is no electricity. Teaching and learning facilities, including textbooks, are a matter of major concern.

"For the last two years, only three of the classrooms could be used for teaching and learning," said Wagiyo, 42, who has been the school guard for 16 years but has yet to be promoted to become a civil servant.

Unfortunately, limited learning facilities are not the only problem that the school faces. For years it also had a limited number of students, which explains why only four teachers currently work at the school.

The sharp decline in the number of students has continued since 1997, mostly due to a marked fall in the number of children of elementary school age in the area. During the 2001/2002 academic year, for example, the school had only six students: two in sixth grade, one in fifth grade, one in fourth grade and two in first grade.

The 2003/2004 academic year accommodated 20 students, comprising four at first grade, six at second grade, four at third grade and six at sixth grade. There were, therefore, no students in the fourth and fifth grades. For this academic year, only 14 students remain, as the six students at sixth grade have passed their exams.

"Thus far, no new students have applied here for the first grade in this academic year," a teacher said.

However, despite the lack of students and facilities, the school has managed to maintain the teaching and learning process and has survived from being closed or merged with other schools, as has been the case in many other elementary schools in the country that have fewer than 100 students. The regulations stipulate this.

"If it is closed, there will be no elementary school in Wonolagi," Gunungkidul Education Office head Sulistiyono said, adding that it was the only elementary school in the area.

If no school were there, it would be difficult for Wonolagi people to send their children to school, due to the remote, hard- to-reach location of the settlement. In fact, the village's physical isolation has resulted in a lack of students and severe damage to the school.

With a population of some 42 families, Wonolagi is sandwiched between the Wanagama forest on its east and south borders and the wide, meandering Oya River on the west and north sides, leaving it an isolated area. The only neighboring settlement is Pengkok, some 2.5 kilometers north of the school.

To reach Pengkok, one has to cross the 20-meter-wide, four- meter-deep Oya River, as there is no bridge to connect the settlements. The only link between the two is a narrow, rocky and hilly, six-kilometer-long path capable of use only by pedestrians or a motorcycle at very low speed. There is a shorter path, but it crosses the Oya River.

"Because of this isolated location, it is also difficult for the school to recruit students from other places," said Martinah, a teacher at Wonolagi elementary school.

This, too, has been a constraint on schoolchildren in the area wanting to continue their studies outside the settlement, especially in the rainy season. The river usually floods during the rainy season, meaning that children cannot get to school.

"During the dry season the river dries out and children can cross it safely," said Ngadino, 29, from Wonolagi, explaining that local people also expressed strong objection when the idea of either closing or merging the school was floated.

So vociferous were local people in voicing their demand, they have voluntarily expressed a commitment to actively participate in rehabilitation work at the school, should their request either not to close or merge the school be fulfilled.

"It has been approved. Hopefully, the local government will also allocate a budget to build a bridge to improve accessibility," said Yanto, 40, also of Wonolagi, optimistically.

It seems that people's dream to keep the school going will soon come true, as renovation work has been scheduled for 2005. Some of the materials needed, including roof tiles and cement, have been sent to the school. Wonolagi elementary school, therefore, will still be there for local people, even though the number of students enrolled may be fewer than the fingers on a person's hands.