Too broke to renovate school

Too broke to renovate school

TANGERANG (JP): Hundreds of students at state elementary
school SDN 5 in Teluk Naga district here have been forced to
attend school in much smaller classrooms over the last two years
following the collapse of three of the school's six classrooms.

School principal Sri Haryati said that she was forced to
divide the first, second and third year classrooms into two to
enable all the students to continue learning.

"This is a bit crowded, but it's better than doing nothing,"
she said.

Mulyadi, the school's sports teacher, said that this state of
affairs began two years ago, when three of the six classrooms
collapsed during school hours.

One day, he recalled, there was suddenly a loud cracking sound
followed roofs collapsing in the fourth, fifth and sixth-grade
classrooms.

Fortunately, he said, he managed to save all of his students
from being hit by the tumbling masonry. "Thank God no one was
hurt in the incident," he said.

Based on that experience, he said that he is constantly forced
to be wary of the danger of further collapses. "We have told the
students to be on the alert whenever they hear any sounds of
cracks of the building," he said.

Haryati said she had reported the situation to the Tangerang
office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, but no response
had been forthcoming.

Tangerang Regent Agus Djunara expressed concern over the
conditions at the school. However, the plan to renovate the
school together with other schools in the area was still being
worked out, he said.

"Renovation of the school buildings in the area is projected
to reach Rp 1 billion (US$91,000)," he said. (41/ivy)