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View all search resultsFlood-hit Sumatra students still studying in tents two months after disaster
Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Atip Latipulhayat said a total of 4,859 schools across three provinces were damaged by floods in Sumatra.
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Flood-torn: A student folds a mud-stained Indonesian flag on Dec. 7, 2025, during a clean-up of her flood-affected school in Padang, West Sumatra. Severe floods and landslides killed close to a thousand people on Sumatra in late December 2025. (AFP/Ade Yuandha)
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wo months after devastating floods struck Sumatra, many children in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh provinces are still studying in tents under difficult conditions as clean-up and repair work at damaged schools drag on.
Ramiannum Tambunan, head of State Elementary School (SDN) 155678 Hutanabolon 2 in Central Tapanuli, North Sumatra, said 165 students at the school have been forced to attend classes in temporary tents because the school buildings remain filled with mud after the floods.
“We hope the authorities can speed up the rehabilitation, clean-up and reconstruction process so students can return to their classrooms,” Tambunan said.
He also urged the government to provide replacement school equipment, noting that many items were destroyed in the floods, including computers, laptops and loudspeakers.
A similar situation is unfolding at State Elementary School (SDN) 05 Kayu Pasak in Agam regency, West Sumatra. Around 97 students are currently attending classes in emergency tents, as the school building has been repurposed as a shelter for residents who lost their homes in the disaster.
School headmistress Novita Yuliarman said three tents are being used as classrooms, each furnished with desks and chairs, although lessons are conducted on the bare ground.
“Despite these conditions, students remain enthusiastic about learning, and teachers continue to provide emotional support alongside regular lessons as many students were also displaced by the disaster” she said, as quoted by Antaranews.
