State school fees also expensive

From Republika

As a family surviving on a government salary, I always stress upon my three children to be diligent at school in order to get a good grade point average, which would entitle them to enter a state school. School fees and related expenditures would then be adapted to an income of a civil servant, I thought.

Luckily, the children understood and cooperated, and all three of them were admitted to state schools.

However, it was not as rosy as I thought. A month after the new school year started, I found myself indebted at all three schools. I owe money for books, shoes that they had to buy, money for the building, etc., etc. Not to mention the extra curricular activities which must be paid even though the children did not participate.

Confused, I don't know how can I express myself in the right way. Life is just one struggle. However, the struggle has been given a different meaning: the expression "to get as much out of life as possible" has taken on a different meaning, i.e.: life is more of a struggle to acquire as many material possessions as one can get.

My children still want to learn, so that they can go to university.

RAHMAWATI N.

Tangerang, West Java