Teens discuss 'injustice' at congress

Erwida Maulia ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Bogor, West Java   |  Wed, 07/23/2008 10:53 AM  |  Headlines

LEARNING BY SITTING: First-year students at SMPN 37 junior high school in Makassar, South Sulawesi, sit on the floor to take their lessons because they don’t have any desks or chairs. (JP/Andi Hajramun)

These are only some of the kinds of injustices Indonesian children endure, as identified by teenagers at a national conference.

"In my hometown, parents have very little interest in sending their children to school because they want their kids to help them work," Wildan Sholihin, 17, from the East Java town of Lumajang, said in a speech to the hundreds of teenagers attending the Indonesian Children's Congress in Bogor on Tuesday.

"They ask their daughters to get married as soon as they graduate from elementary school. Aren't such things child exploitation?"

Another participant, Sonia Prianka of Riau Islands, said injustice was evident in the education system, particularly in the National Examination scoring standards, which apply equally across the country regardless of students' resources.

"You can see the difference in quality between schools in major towns like Batam and those in remote areas. Students in urban areas have good teachers and read a lot of good textbooks, but students in outlying islands don't," she said.

Lack of access to healthcare for children from underprivileged families or in remote areas is another prevalent injustice, she added.

"The government should periodically send medical workers to remote areas to ensure people have appropriate healthcare," she said.

Bayu Segara from Bali raised the issue of discrimination against children who have certain infectious diseases, while Agatha Armadhea from Sidoarjo, East Java, talked in length about children whose schools had been destroyed in the mudflow disaster.

The teenagers were speaking at the 7th Indonesian Children's Congress, which gathers together about 350 young people from the country's 33 provinces. This year's theme was "Save Indonesian Children from Injustice".

Child abuse, child labor, trafficking, malnutrition, exposure to tobacco advertising, school dropout rates and undistributed school operational funds were among the topics the participants, aged between 12 and 18, discussed during the congress.

The teenagers divided into groups to discuss various topics, including education, health and child protection, drafting solutions and establishing a network linking children's organizations across the country.

An event to commemorate National Children's Day, to be held at Taman Mini park in East Jakarta on Wednesday, will conclude the congress. Representatives for the congress delegates will read out a declaration to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Arist Merdeka Sirait, secretary-general of the National Commission for Child Protection, the congress organizer, said among the teenagers' recommendations was the establishment of a special ministry dedicated to children's issues.

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