Vocational school lacks students

Vocational school lacks students

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: The Sendang Mas Javanese art school
here has seen its students dwindle down to only 58 this academic
year from 500 when it was opened in 1989.

The school's headmaster, Suhardi, said only 38 students are
now left after 20 students graduated recently.

Suhardi said nobody has enrolled for the school for the new
academic year which starts in mid-July, but he remains optimistic
about the future of the school.

"Someday, many people will seek our graduates," Suhardi said
of the school, one of seven schools of its kind in the country.

He attributed the lack of interest in studying Javanese arts
in the state vocational school to the fact that many of its
graduates were unemployed.

"Besides, people and parents do not encourage children to
study here," Suhardi complained. (45)