Teachers provide schooling for remote hamlet

Teachers provide schooling for remote hamlet

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap, Central Java

The hamlet of Pasuruan in Ujung Alang village in Kampung Laut
subdistrict, Cilacap, located adjacent to the notorious Central
Java island of Nusakambangan and its maximum security prison, is
only a two-hour ride by motorized boat from Cilacap's Seleko
Port.

Yet, the hamlet is nothing like the regental capital of
Cilacap.

No asphalt roads run through the area, nor do public
transportation connect villagers of one village to another.
Simple motorized vessels, often rafts made of logs equipped with
a diesel engine, are the main mode of transportation for locals.

The neighborhood is no less rustic, with houses mostly built
of bamboo, wood or a mixture of the two. The narrow dirt paths
that lead from one house to another usually crack during the dry
season, and is a slippery mud path during the rainy season.

Still, the local villagers are keen about their children
getting an education -- as is their wish to have an elementary
school in their neighborhood. It takes at least an hour's walk to
the nearest state elementary school in Motean, SDN 01 Ujung
Alang, not to mention the grueling journey to reach the school.

"It's really a long, hard walk for an elementary-level child,"
said a Pasuruan mother of three.

The shorter -- but no less difficult -- way to get to the
school is by boat. However, the Rp 4,000 round-trip fare is
considered too costly by locals, the majority of whom are farmers
or fishermen.

Of course, the commuting fee would rise if a family has more
than one child attending school.

Under such conditions, the need for an elementary school in
Pasuruan is so great that the villagers have been satisfied with
distance-learning classes from SDN 01 Ujung Alang -- even though
only a single teacher is available for first, second and third
grade.

To accommodate the classes, the villagers built a humble,
bamboo shelter of five by nine meters on a plot of land owned by
the village council.

"All the materials and the construction were provided
voluntarily by the locals," said Sugeng, the founder and teacher
of the distance-learning classes in Pasuruan.

Opened in 2001, the program's first grade class has eight
students, the second grade has nine students and the third grade
has 22 students. Sugeng is responsible for all three, although he
said he had never been trained as a teacher.

Sugeng is from Adipala subdistrict in Cilacap, where he still
lives with his Pasuruan-born wife, Manisen, and their three
children.

Sugeng is a graduate of an Adipala high school, and responded
to Pasuruan's educational needs, as no teacher seemed willing to
come and teach there. He proposed to teach the distance-learning
class from the outset.

"I learned, and am still learning, how to teach a subject by
reading the teachers' guides published by the Ministry of
National Education, which have been provided by SDN 01 Ujung
Alang," said Sugeng.

He added that he had not yet encountered any difficulties in
carrying out his job -- mostly because the subjects were
relatively basic and uncomplicated.

Initially, with only a single class in the one classroom
available, Sugeng started school in the morning. Now, however, as
there are three classes and still only one classroom, he had no
choice but to stagger the classes: First grade starts at 7 a.m.
and finishes at 9 a.m., second grade runs from 9:30 a.m. to 11
a.m. and third grade is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

With his civil servant position as teacher's aide, Sugeng
receives an honorarium of Rp 300,000 every three months from SDN
01 Ujung Alang, the host school. The students each pay Rp 6,000
to attend the distance-learning class, of which SDN 01 retains Rp
1,000 and Sugeng receives the remainder.

All in all, Sugeng earns Rp 295,000 a month to run the three
classes, but he frequently contributes some of this to support
operational costs of the school.

"It's not the amount that matters, but providing education for
the children," said Sugeng. To help support the family, his wife
opened a kiosk at home, selling staple foods and other daily
needs.

During the first two years of the distance-learning class, the
students did not receive any religious instruction, which is a
key component of the national curriculum.

Sugeng said he did not have the capacity to provide such
instruction, as he had insufficient knowledge on the subject.

Thanks to a retired religion teacher, Sobari, who formerly
taught at an elementary school for children of Nusakambangan
prison employees, Pasuruan distance-learning students have been
receiving instruction in Islam for the past year -- something
their parents had long yearned.

Sobari teaches voluntarily because of the limited space, and
holds his class in the afternoon. He supports his family by money
made from selling T-shirts and from his pension.

"I consider this my good deed. I hope only for a reward from
Allah the Almighty," Sobari said.