SDN Keramat Serang Admits Only 7 New Students, Merges Classes with Year 2

SD Negeri Keramat in Cikande District, Serang Regency, has seen little interest and received only seven new pupils this year. As a result, Year 1 pupils must study in the same room as the eight pupils of Year 2.

The school building and facilities at SD Keramat are, in fact, still in good condition. A single classroom can actually accommodate up to 28 pupils in accordance with regulations.

However, the school is located far from residential areas and is instead surrounded by the Cikande industrial estate.

When detikcom visited the school area on Tuesday morning (21 July 2026), pupils were still carrying out teaching and learning activities in class. The classrooms for Years 1 and 2, as well as Years 3 and 4, have had to be combined.

The merger was carried out because of the small number of pupils and a shortage of teaching staff, with only three teachers and one head teacher.

The head of SDN Keramat, Aan Hernawati, said that Year 1 has only seven pupils, while Year 2 has eight. Each combined class is taught by the same single teacher.

“Learning is combined, so one blackboard is shared between two,” said Aan.

Aan explained that the shortage of pupils has been going on for a long time. The school currently has a total of only 74 pupils from Year 1 to Year 6. The largest number of pupils is in Year 3, with 17 children.

“This is because this state primary school only takes pupils from two hamlets, namely Kampung Keramat and Kampung Kalong, covering two neighbourhood units,” said Aan.

She hopes there will be a solution to the problem of the pupil shortage. If other nearby state primary schools are over their quota, she hopes applicants who cannot be accommodated could be redirected to SDN Keramat.

“The hope is, for example, when class groups at other schools are filled according to the decree, pupils who are not accepted could be directed to our school,” she said.

Aan noted that SDN Keramat must also compete with a private madrasah ibtidaiyah (MI).

“Because its location is probably closer to the settlements. So those not accepted at the state primary school choose to go there,” she said.

According to Aan, SD Keramat is highly adequate in terms of educational facilities. SDN Keramat has just received aid in the form of new desks and chairs as well as laptops for pupils.

“The facilities are good — we received assistance from the government,” she said.