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.