Parents get involved with their children's right to education

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/09/2008 9:37 AM  |  City

A group of women gathered at their neighborhood mosque Wednesday in Tanah Merah, South Rawa Badak subdistrict, North Jakarta. It was not the usual Koran reciting session; they met to discuss access to education for their children.

One woman asked how to get a letter of financial need from the subdistrict office so that she wouldn't have to pay her son's tuition fees, while another woman complained one of her children was not allowed to attend class because she had not paid school fees for several months.

A local leader, Siregar, said education remained a major problem in the neighborhood with 80 percent of children leaving elementary and junior high schools.

"They don't go to school mainly because their parents do not have enough money to pay the education costs," he said.

This is why, he said, residents were enthusiastic to follow up on the discussion held by the Institute of Education Advocacy for Marginalized Children (LAPAM) that day.

The discussion provided residents with the information needed to help them keep their children in school.

The institute's program manager, Fitriani Sunarto, said aside from holding discussions, it would also set an information post in the subdistrict where residents could consult the institute about their problems.

The volunteers in the post would also assist parents with facing school management and with attaining provisions from the government for their children's study.

"This is to emphasize the idea of education as a right," said Fitriani.

She said in the country's compulsory education system, in which children must study for at least nine years, parents should be responsible for making sure their children go to school every day, while education costs should be covered by the government.

"So the parents should be more critical and active in making sure the government carries out its responsibility," she said.

The institute, which was established in 2007, has created 12 education posts in some underprivileged areas across Jakarta, Bekasi and Depok.

In each post, the institute will choose and train three volunteers in the neighborhood to assist local residents.

Director of the institute Ramida Siringoringo publicized one of the government's latest education policies, saying it was one parents should know of. The government has decided to continue disbursing school subsidies to underprivileged families this year but would cut funding for books by 40 percent and introduce a low-cost book program.

"Based on this policy, schools are no longer allowed to make it compulsory for students to buy certain books," she said. (uwi)

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.