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ozens of children at Rumpin'€™s Cibitung village in Bogor, West Java, walk through paddy fields, bamboo trees and cattle farms every Sunday to have character building sessions at the informal school Sekolah Kita Rumpin (SKR) with young volunteer teachers who come from Greater Jakarta.

'€œI'€™m happy to come to the school because I can meet many friends and learn various subjects from the teachers,'€ says 12-year-old Supandi.

Supandi is one of 50 active students, aged between four and 17, who learn various subjects with 40 young volunteers aged between 17 and 27 years. The school has about 130 other students who attend the school on an irregular basis.

SKR was established in 2012 by three activists, Rara Sekar Larasati, Ana Agustina and Neneng to help Cibitung residents overcome and cope with anxiety over their land ownership dispute with the Indonesian Air Force.

At the school, volunteers deliver their subjects from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. noon at a musholla (small Muslim prayer house) for free. On every other Sunday, they teach subjects that can help improve student performance at their formal schools. On the other Sunday, they teach extra-curricular subjects such as theater, handicrafts and public speaking.

SKR spokesperson Josefhine Chitra said that all the subjects taught at the school were designed to develop the character of the students with the most emphasis on the development of empathy, followed by the encouragement of curiosity and creativity.

'€œAll the subjects are discussed in such a way that the children'€™s confidence can improve,'€ she told The Jakarta Post. '€œConfidence is necessary for the students because they live in villages close to housing complexes for upper-middle class people, such as BSD City in South Tangerang.'€

Josefhine said that even though none of the teachers were paid, they were demanded to teach the students seriously. They were expected to commit to teaching for at least one year.

'€œEvery time they teach, they have to show their lesson plans to a meeting of teachers,'€ she said, adding that all the subjects delivered by different teachers should be consistent with one another and should contribute to the common goal of character building.

She said that besides providing lessons in classes, SKR was also trying to offer scholarships to its students who wanted to continue their studies at universities.

Annisa, a 17-year-old girl from Malahpar village in Rumpin, would be the first SKR student to get a scholarship to continue her studies. She was now preparing to attend an entrance test for the Jakarta State University and for the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN).

'€œI'€™d never thought of being able to continue my studies at a university,'€ she said.

Josefhine said that SKR would use the funds donated by certain individuals to finance the scholarship.

She said that she was concerned that many local children did not continue their studies at universities but chose instead to get married early or to find jobs after graduating from high school.

Rini Anggriani, a 17-year-old girl who had just graduated recently from a senior high school, said she would rather work to earn money now. '€œI'€™m applying to be a shop cashier at the moment,'€ she said.

Nasiah, 16, was married two months ago. She said she had never considered going to university because she did not even go to junior high school. She is now a worker at a bird'€™s nest production factory. (rbk)