Temporary classrooms small comfort for students

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 06/10/2006 2:45 PM | Jakarta

Theresia Sufa and Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Bogor, Bekasi

At the Al Hikmah mosque in Ciparigi, Bogor, more than 100 elementary school students are stretched out on the floor.

They fumble in their bags for their pencils. The light is not good and the floor is hard.

But at their real school -- State Elementary School Cibuluh No. 3 -- which is about 200 meters away from the mosque, space is at a premium. Three classrooms are in such bad condition they cannot be used and teachers are concerned about students' safety.

""Our teacher lets us move around. We can sit or lie down, because it's virtually impossible to sit still the whole time. It's preferable to study in a classroom, of course,"" fifth grader Ade Rosita said.

The school is one of 60 in Bogor that are in a state of disrepair.

It is not just the classrooms; not a single toilet is in working order and the library is unsafe to go into.

One of the teachers, Mesralia Sitompul, said the school had been like that since February.

The school, which was established in 1986, has 295 students.

""We don't have a field for the flag-raising ceremony on Mondays. For physical education, we use the soccer field at Villa Bogor Indah housing complex, which is a kilometer from here,"" Mesralia said.

The head of the Bogor Education Agency's primary education infrastructure unit, Maskur, said the 60 damaged schools were the legacy of Bogor regency. In 1995, the area where the schools are became part of Bogor municipality.

Bogor regency allocated limited funds for education at that time.

Maskur also said that most of the schools concerned were located in the middle of densely populated residential areas.

""That explains why many schools, like SD Cibuluh, have no yard for the flag ceremony or sports, or a playground.""

He said the agency would renovate the schools once contractors had been selected.

The municipality has set a time frame for the renovation of the 60 schools of between 2006 and 2008.

In Cibitung, Bekasi, part of the main building of state elementary school SDN Cibuntu No. 4 collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, when school was out. No one was in the building at the time.

Teachers said there were cracks in the walls and the beams were rotting.

""All students will be transferred to a neighboring school because we fear the other buildings will collapse too,"" teacher Nursin Abdulgani said.

Many of the wooden boards had either been replaced or reinforced with bamboo, which proved not strong enough.

The school board had also put two proposals in to the local government for funding, but got no response.

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