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)