Wealthy people urged to help poor students

Wealthy people urged to help poor students

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso is urging affluent parents to
assist students from financially troubled families to stay in
school, including donating used uniforms and books.

He said on Wednesday economically disadvantaged students badly
needed help from the government and their wealthier schoolmates
to enable them to get through the hardship.

"I know there must be a lot of people out there, especially
those whose children have grown up and left their books and
uniforms, who would be happy to give away the stuff to children
of poor families."

He encouraged cash-strapped parents to keep their children in
school, even if it required them wearing used uniforms.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of having children wearing used
uniforms or using used books. I did not feel ashamed myself when
as a student I went to the Pasar Ular flea market to find
secondhand stuffs."

Sutiyoso said the administration would do its utmost to help
ensure students got an education.

"We'll try to get some money from some items in the budget
which can still be utilized. I think I'll use also some amount
out of my tactical budget to help subsidize the school fees for
the children."

The head of the city office of the Ministry of Education and
Culture, Alwi Nurdin, said the number of elementary and junior
high schools students not continuing their education this year
increased by at least 10 percent from last year.

"We believe the main reason behind it is the worsening
monetary crisis, even though we have not been able to prove it
with detailed statistics."

Alwi disclosed the number of grade and junior high school
graduates who dropped out this year reached about 23,537 and
66,852, respectively.

He said his office would set up a committee to help subsidize
the tuition fees of students of poor families for one year
starting next month. Each student would receive Rp 20,000 per
month, he added.

Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Affairs Djailani encouraged
poor families to make use of the government's facility to get
exemption of school entrance and monthly tuition fees by applying
for the financial status document at their respective subdistrict
offices.

Djailani reminded the subdistrict officials not to obstruct
poor families by charging extraneous fees for the applications.

He also warned subdistrict heads not to manipulate data on the
number of dropouts or poor families in their areas merely to save
face.

City councilor Soeparmo, head of Commission E for social
welfare affairs, said Tuesday demand for the financial status
document surged after the monetary crisis hit the country.

"Hardly anyone applied for such document a couple of years
ago. Many still find it embarrassing to let people and officials
know that they are poor," he said. (cst)