Students must go to school: Habibie

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)