Schools asked to use state-published books

Schools asked to use state-published books

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Education's Jakarta office has
called on all schools in Jakarta to use sets of books that are
specially designed to cater for the needs of students at
elementary, junior and senior high schools.

The Jakarta office's public relations chief Abdul Hamid said
here on Monday that only few of Jakarta's schools utilize the
state-published books, despite the fact that the books are free
of charge and there are enough copies available for students to
follow their studies.

He said that his office and the Social Institution for
education care (LSM-P2B) in Jakarta had reached an agreement on
the use of the specially-published books.

Both of the institutions asked teachers not to organize the
purchase of other books for their respective schools. "The books
from the ministry are sufficient. If they have to purchase other
books to supplement their study materials then they should not
make it compulsory for students, particularly poor ones," Abdul
Hamid said.

He warned that the book problem should not become a reason for
poor students to drop out of school.