Kids dropping school in Central Sulawesi

Ruslan Sangadji ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Palu   |  Wed, 05/07/2008 9:39 AM  |  The Archipelago

The Central Sulawesi chapter of the Child Protection Commission (LPA) announced Monday the province was home to 54,235 school-age drop-outs, a majority of whom were in Poso regency.

The commission said Poso had 12,002 children out of school, followed by Tojo Una-Una (8,065), Donggala (7,551), Morowali (6,743), Toli-Toli (4,987), Parigi Moutong (4,459), Banggai Islands (3,083), Banggai (2,912) and Palu city (1,913).

Central Sulawesi LPA head Sofyan Farid Lembah said the child labor rate was also high with many children working or seeking jobs.

In rural areas, 42,174 boys and 31,502 girls between the ages of 15 to 19 have taken up jobs, while 5,983 boys and 4,469 girls are seeking jobs, Sofyan said.

In urban areas, Sofyan said, 4,696 boys and 3,437 girls were working, while those seeking work totaled 1,446 boys and 1,351 girls.

"The figure is expected to rise, given around 112,735 children -- 56,895 boys and 55,840 girls -- are ready to enter the workforce now," Sofyan told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The number of children drop-outs and the rising rate of child labor and child jobseekers, he said, was attributable to the high poverty rate.

In 2007, 154,006 residents were classified as living just over the poverty line while 557,400 others were below it, most coming from rural areas.

Data at the Central Sulawesi Social Welfare Office in 2007 recorded 143,760 families receiving social welfare funds (UKS). The funds were distributed to as many as 40,669 families in Banggai, 24,372 in Donggala, 20,785 in Poso, 13,929 in Parigi Moutong, 13,594 in Buol, 10,789 in Toli-Toli, 8,300 in Banggai Islands, 6,369 in Morowali and 4,955 in Palu city.

"The strapped condition of families in Central Sulawesi has contributed to the number of children not in school," said Sofyan.

Poverty, said Sofyan, had prompted children to follow in their parents' footsteps to add money to the family income. In some cases, parents had persuaded their children to work.

Another consequence, said LPA, was the nearly 40 percent of girls who had married at a young age. Donggala recorded the highest number of adolescent girls marrying below the age of 16 at 23.2 percent, while Banggai Islands recorded the lowest with 7.9 percent.

The highest rate of marriage in the 17 to 18 years bracket is in Buol at 27.8 percent and the lowest in Palu city at 16.7 percent.

"The influence of poverty on the tendency of girls to marry early has yet to be proven, but in a number of communities in Donggala, economic reasons is one of the main reasons for people getting married at a young age," said Sofyan.

Sofyan said studies showed that parents hoped to alleviate economic hardship by marrying off their children at a young age, or at least deflect the burden of raising their children.

Sofyan said if the provincial administration failed to address poverty, more children would certainly be neglected.

"This is the responsibility of the government. It cannot turn a blind eye on the issue," he said.

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