Students must go to school: Habibie

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie called on all parents on Saturday not to let their children drop out of school or discontinue their education because the nation needed excellent human resources for the next millennium.

In his televised speech to commemorate National Education Day, which fell on Sunday, the President said the ongoing economic turmoil should not deprive parents of their hopes for their children's future.

He pointed out that parents would not suffer alone, because the government would provide more scholarships and subsidies to ease their burden.

"We believe the storms of the crisis will never weaken our resourcefulness for education," the President said.

National Education Day falls on the birthday of Ki Hajar Dewantara, who founded the Taman Siswa school in Yogyakarta in the 1920s.

The President said the government had provided financial assistance to 104,339 elementary schools and their 1.8 million students, 18,236 junior high schools and their 1.6 million students. Funds were also provided to 9,400 senior high schools and 500,000 students in the 1998/1999 fiscal year, which ended in March.

He added that at least 200,000 university students had received scholarships.

"For next year, this program will be continued with various improvements," Habibie pledged.

In an interview with state-owned TVRI on Saturday, Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono said the government should assist at least 35 million students from poor families.

The Ministry of Education and Culture's, director general of primary and secondary education, Indra Jati Sidi, was quoted by Suara Karya daily as saying on Saturday that no less than six million primary and junior high school students had had to leave school since the crisis began for financial reasons.

The National Development Planning Agency's (Bappenas) deputy head of human resources development, Hidayat Syarief, said the government had provided Rp 120 billion (US$14 million) for needy university students last year.

He said each of the 1.8 million elementary students received Rp 120,000 in the last fiscal year. (prb/edt)