Karimunjawa school offers new hope

Suherdjoko , The Jakarta Post , Jepara | Wed, 02/27/2008 12:08 PM | The Archipelago

Unlike their fellow students in big cities, students of a vocational high school on Karimunjawa Island, 110 kilometers north of Central Java's capital, Semarang, are just starting to utilize IT technology.

Rudin, Ulinuha, Nike Alfian and Budi Wibowo, four students of the fishery high school on Karimunjawa, were typing with just one hand during a free after school computer course on Tuesday night.

"I am learning to type personal data," said Rudin.

Scores of the vocational high school's students have limited access to computers because there are only six PCs. The course can only be conducted in the evening as the school sources its power from a diesel-powered engine that supplies power to residents at night only.

If only Karimunjawa's education industry could compare to its tourism industry.

Karimunjawa, which consists of 27 islets (of which six are inhabited), is Central Java's tourist paradise. It is a four-hour trip by speedboat from Semarang or six hours from Jepara on Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, during bad weather and high tide, it is unreachable.

The islands Karimunjawa, Menjangan, Parang, Nyamuk, Tambangan and Menyawakan are the six inhabited islands.

Karimunjawa, with a population of 8,700, is one of the least-developed subdistricts in Jepara regency. Most residents earn their living from fishing, growing cashews and farming seaweed.

Some from the islanders have migrated to Malaysia to look for work.

Under such conditions, it is very difficult to find educated people on the island.

"Most residents are elementary school graduates or dropouts," said the deputy head of the vocational high school, Patto Prawansyah. "Only a small number have graduated from high school and university. Most students have to help their parents with fishing after graduating from elementary school or high school."

The poor social conditions is only part of the reason few parents send their children to study in Jepara or Semarang.

"Education is not a priority for fishermen earning Rp 20,000 to Rp 40,000 a day," Patto said.

He added that men generally became fishermen after graduating while women married at a young age.

Patto regretted that education was not considered important among children and said it was very difficult to persuade them to go to school.

He said the school had launched a door-to-door campaign to persuade elementary school graduates to enter the fishery vocational school, which is running short of students.

Arifin, a 42-year-old fisherman, said he had been fishing for 15 years but he was unable to lift his family out of poverty.

Asih Nugraheni, a teacher at the school, said the fishery school was established to give local traditional fishermen basic fishery skills. The school now has 88 students and has produced 50 graduates.

Several graduates have joined an intermediate training program at fish-canning factories in Jepara and Semarang to encourage them to develop the fishery industry on the islands.

Asih said the youths should leave the islands to study at universities and academies in Semarang, Yogyakarta and other cities. He said it would help improve locals' awareness of educational issues and help people come out of poverty.

He called on the government to set up a vocational academy to help develop people's skills in fishery and farming.

Unlike most women on the island, Solehah went to teacher training school in Semarang after graduating from high school. Now she is an elementary school teacher in Karimunjawa. Her parents had to send her Rp 600,000 monthly during her training at Diponegoro University in Semarang. She said her parents were proud she had graduated from university, and had brought that knowledge back to the island.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |