Students sit on floors

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Lack of financial resources to equip elementary schools with even the most basic furnishings has forced children in several schools in the province to sit and study on the floor.

Head of the provincial education and culture office, M. Soelkan, said he was concerned by the sorry state of many schools.

"I see a lot of students sitting on the floor and crouching down with their books when they have to write," he said after a visit to several schools in Lombok.

During his tour, he saw at least three elementary schools which lacked a sufficient number of desks and chairs, Antara reported.

He said he would ask other schools which had extra furniture, including items needing repair, to send them to the needy schools.

Meanwhile, the headmaster of elementary school 10 in Tanjung, Bima regency, HM Yasin, has imposed a policy of asking each new student to bring one chair to school.

He said he introduced the policy so students would not have to sit on the floor, adding that a request for new chairs and tables to the Bima education office had proved fruitless.

"However, this year none of the new students has brought any chairs to school. Last year it worked quite well as we collected 50 chairs," he said.