If things were a little better -- if her mother had a better job and her father had not died so early -- 19-year-old Yusnia could have graduated from high school this year.
But she is not that lucky.
Unable to afford to study, Yusnia dropped out during the second year of junior high school and lost her chance to earn a junior high certificate.
"I know it's a pity, but what else could I do? My mother can't afford the school fees," said the resident of Kampung Pisang, Tangerang, who now tries to earn some money by helping her mother with housekeeping.
Before this, Yusnia had a series of contract labor jobs in factories.
"Without a junior high certificate, there's not much I can do," she said.
Yusnia's experiences resemble the fate of many children in Indonesia who are not fortunate enough to be able to continue at school, and hence, not lucky enough to have better lives in the future.
Participation rates (APM) at junior high school currently stand at 71.6 percent, an increase from 62.16 percent last year, according to a recent report by the national Education Ministry.
The report also says about 210,000 students across the country drop out of junior high school each year, and about 450,000 elementary school graduates fail to continue to the next level of education.
The APM counts the proportion of children between the age of 13 and 15 who are currently at junior high school. This age group is estimated to be about 5 percent of Indonesia's total population of 240 million, or about 12 million.
The APM of 71.6 percent means there are 3.4 million children who are supposed to attend junior high schools but fail to do so.
What has contributed to the low APM?
The Education Ministry's director general for the management of elementary and secondary education, Suyanto, said a number of factors are involved, including the lack of facilities and infrastructure, and parents' belief that education is not necessary or that children should work to contribute to the family income -- quite common in rural areas.
The major factor, however, is -- as always -- poverty, with close to 40 percent of Indonesia's total population getting by on less than US$2 per day, as reported by the World Bank in 2006.
Research by Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) earlier this year found parents of an elementary school student needed an average of Rp 600,000 ($65) per month, or around $2 per day, for a child's education.
At this rate, many parents -- assuming they have only one child -- would have to spend most of or even all their incomes on their children's education if they insist on sending them to school.
Most of these parents would most likely choose to drop education in favor of more pressing needs such as food.
Hence, the low APM.
To tackle the impact of poverty on education, the government has launched a number of programs, including the famous School Operational Aid (BOS), funded by cuts to oil subsidies, BOS for schoolbooks and scholarships for poor students.
The government claims programs such as BOS, which was launched in 2005, have contributed to the reported declines in the number of school dropouts and increases in the APM.
ICW dismissed the government's claim, saying the improving participation rate was thanks to changing attitudes among parents rather than to the government.
What's more, with the increased education budget allocation, the total amount parents must pay for their elementary school children was increasing, too, ICW's Febri Hendri said in February this year.
The government earmarked 9.1 percent of the state budget, or Rp 44.1 trillion, for education in 2006 and 11.8 percent of the state budget, or Rp 54.06 trillion, in 2007.
In the same period, ICW found, parents' total expenses for their elementary school children increased by 18.9 percent from an annual average of Rp 4.01 million per child in 2006 to Rp 4.77 million in 2007.
With this kind of amount required just for one elementary school student, it is no wonder even more affluent parents, many of whom have more than one child, have difficulties meeting their children's education expenses.
Jumono, a parent with the Alliance of Students' Parents Concerned with Transparency in the Education Budget (AUDITAN), said the BOS allowance of Rp 254,000 per student per year covered tuition fees only.
Parents have to spend a lot more money for numerous other levies charged by schools, he said.
Such levies are comprised of direct and indirect fees, Febri said.
Direct fees include charges for extra courses (to prepare for final exams), exams, building maintenance, textbooks and supplementary books, study tours, reregistration and farewell ceremonies.
Indirect fees include fees for school uniforms, transport to school, stationery, exercise books and extracurricular activities.
The higher the education level, the more money parents must spend, resulting in even lower participation rates at high school and higher education levels.
The government does not appear to be looking into school levels above the nine-year basic compulsory education level it is now focusing on, even though the jobs that can be obtained with only junior high school certificates are so few and so poorly paid.
And with its autonomy and privatization policies now being applied at state universities -- leading to skyrocketing college tuition fees -- the hopes not only of poor students but also of many more affluent youths to benefit from higher education are fading fast.
What is happening in Indonesia now could perhaps best be described by the title of one of Eko Prasetyo's books: Orang Miskin Dilarang Sekolah (Poor People Are Not Allowed to Go to School).
Indeed, only those few with high incomes can enjoy the best of the country's education.
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