Tangerang short of high schools

TANGERANG: Development in the Tangerang municipality has been racing ahead of late, with the number of districts increasing from six to 12 in just the past five years, but residents say the number of high schools in the municipality has failed to keep pace.

"The addition of six new districts was not followed by the construction of new high schools in those districts, leaving residents complaining about a lack of schools," the municipal education agency chief, Harry Mulya Zain, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He said there were only seven state high schools in the municipality, while ideally each district should have its own state high school.

Besides the high schools, Tangerang has 27 state junior high schools and 345 state elementary schools.

Harry said Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin had ordered the agency to calculate how many new schools were needed, and had also promised to provide the money to build them.

The new districts are Neglasari, Cipondoh, Benda, Pinang, Larangan and Karang Tengah.--JP