Thousands of children left uneducated

BEKASI: At least 76,233 children of the 1.7 million population of Bekasi, have not started elementary school Mayor Akhmad Zurfalih said on Friday.

"Generally they are from families with a low income so they do not have the financial support to be properly educated," Akhmad said.

He added that some of the families did not really want their children to go to school but suggested that further research was needed to uncover why this was the case.

The data provided by the mayoralty also indicates that at least 277,990 of the population didn't finish elementary school.

The chairwoman of the City Council Commission E for education and social welfare affairs, Tati Ruswartati, urged the city administration to allocate Rp 30 billion (US$3.5 million) or 5 percent of the 2004 budget, a total of Rp 600 billion, for a fund to help poor families educate their children. -- Antara