Time waits for Irianese pupils

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Many students from the Inpres Yomber public elementary school have wasted two years waiting for their final exams that never materialized after their teachers "fled" to Manokwari leaving the school building high and dry.

The teachers, recruited from other areas, moved to seek better jobs because they reportedly could not stand the hard life in isolated Yomber.

Antara said the school was abandoned four years ago and that Manokwari regency officials were planning to check on it.

The chairman of the Manokwari education and culture office, Simon Leksi, said the government would do its best to rebuild the school and resume classes.

"If the school is left the way it is now, the disappointed people may do something that causes unrest," he said. (pan)