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.