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nita Koilang says that poverty forced her to drop out of junior high school and abandon her hopes of becoming a teacher before a UNICEF program helped her return to the classroom.

The 13-year-old is one of 737 children in Northwest Alor in Alor, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), whose return to the classroom has been made possible by the Community Education Information System (SIPBM) program.

The Alor regency administration said it would allocate a portion of its 2012 budget to send hundreds of dropouts from the regency back to school.

The administration pledged its support following a report released by SIPBM in cooperation with UNICEF’s office in NTT.

According to the report released earlier this week by SIPBM at the city hall in Kalabahi, the regency capital, 737 children in Northwest Alor district dropped out of school due to various reasons, mostly due to their parents’ poor economic condition.

“This is part of my failure as a regent,” Alor Regent Simeon Th Pally, said.

Simeon, who said he was “shocked” by the report, promised to focus on education in the regency.

All relevant stakeholders had to cooperate to improve education in the regency and limit the number of dropouts, he said.

Yulida Pangastuti, the education division coordinator of UNICEF’s NTT office, said 19 dropouts who were in attendance at the report’s release at city hall would return to school in the next few days.

The children were given school uniforms, stationery supplies and scholarships that were funded by School Operational Aid (BOS) funds provided by the national Education and Culture Ministry, Yulida said.

“Others will soon follow,” Yulida said.

UNICEF’s local office would also help to draft a bylaw for the regency on education to reduce illiteracy and the dropout rate.

Meanwhile, Anita, said she was overjoyed that she could continue studies that she abandoned two years ago, when poverty forced her to drop out of SMP Ampera junior high school in Nothwest Alor.

“I will study hard to realize my dream. I am very proud that in this difficult situation someone has sent me back to school,” Anita said.

Similar enthusiasm was expressed by Deny Lalitan, the deputy speaker of the Alor Legislative Council.

“This step that the regency administration has made with the support from UNICEF will hopefully be able to lower the dropout rate in Alor,” Denny said.