Students, teachers fear another roof collapse

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Going to school was never a daunting routine for students and teachers of state elementary school SDN 6 Karawaci, Tangerang, until the decaying roof of one of its six classrooms collapsed last week.

Although the school's headmaster had repeatedly tried to convince the teachers and parents the 30-year-old building was still safe to use, pending its renovation during the next few months, since the collapse they remain on alert.

"As long as my daughter is still inside the school building, I cannot relax. Who can tell when another collapse will take place while the children are inside? Who will be responsible if my child gets injured or, God forbids, dies?," a parent, Ika Rahayuningsih said.

Ika had been waiting for her daughter outside the school since classes started in the morning when she was interviewed by The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Urged by parents, the school management had asked the Tangerang municipal administration to renovate the building long before the roof incident, but the administration had yet to make a satisfactory response, she said.

Headmaster Syariffudin AR said there was no need to move out of the school. "The activities in the school must go on, the teachers must continue teaching and students must remain studying here. The renovations will start next month."

But head of Tangerang Education Agency, Harry Mulya Zain, told the Post on Friday that repairs to the school's roof would not start until July and were not expected to finish until December.

Located on Jl. Beringin Raya, Perumnas I in Karawaci district, the school building was built in 1974.

The roof of the classroom for first grade students, which is right next to the teachers' room, collapsed on March 29 because its wooden frame had decayed. Luckily, the incident took place at 6 a.m. when the school buildings were still empty.

Now, only five classrooms are available to cater to the 232 students for the morning and afternoon class sessions.

The Post observed the building still looked in good condition from the outside because the outer walls and bamboo fences had just been painted. But inside there were holes and cracks in the walls and almost all the students' chairs and tables were in poor condition, rattling when touched.

According to Syariffudin, the condition of the school was much worse when he came into the job two years ago.

"But the school supervisory council said the renovation of this school building was not top priority," he said.

Harry said the administration had allocated more than Rp 200 billion (US$23.5 million), or 42 percent of its total budget this year to education, most of the funds being allocated to renovate some 350 dilapidated schools. Another 186 schools would have to wait for the 2006 budget, he said.

"Due to our lack of funds, we have called on businesses to donate some of their profits to help renovate the damaged schools. But we have yet to receive any response," Harry said.