Help 50 Indonesian Kids Continue Their Schooling

“On the street, we sing for bucks so that we could fund ourselves to learn at school –or be prepared for dropout.”

In the middle of the day, two children busk from one street stall to the next. They were singing while clapping hands to keep on-tempo, holding a plastic container, whilst asking for change. At the time they were at a meatballs stall –a small stall that was overloaded with people having lunch. Sure it seemed like a gold mine for them, until they met eyes with a man whom they later identified as Ignasius Meak –their school principal at Bina Pusaka Elementary School in Koja District of Jakarta. Feeling embarrassed, they spontaneously said, ‘Look, that’s Mr. Ignasius! Run!'. Ignasius watched them run away, feeling pitiful that his students combed the streets looking for money but more so over the fact that his students were embarrassed by their behaviour to try and fund their education.

These children busk after school time to help their parents fund their school, while some others go through trash or work at the bus terminal, etc. These jobs are forcing them onto the streets, leading to juvenile delinquency in areas such as drug abuse, prostitution, pickpocketing, and other criminal acts.

Fortunately, these children still keep their optimism in achieving a decent standard of education. Numerous others are not so fortunate, and their make the decision to discontinue their education. According to statistics, from 4,115,553 elementary school graduates in year 2016/2017, only 3,354,222 proceeding to a junior high school in year 2017/2018.[1]

Their failure to carry forward formal education indicates the end of their learning process. Which means, the chance for them to gain greater employment opportunities than their parents is lower. In addition, children who work part-time have difficulty in dividing their focus between study and work. Not to mention that they will also need to postpone for at least a year to prepare money for junior high school entrance fee which is around 10 times of their monthly tuition. Provide them with a scholarship to pay for their junior high entrance school fee!

Source of Data:

[1] Statistics of Ministry of Education and Culture 2017/2018

Every day is a day to be grateful and acknowledge everything that we currently own and use. Laptops, personal smartphones, headphones, books, and vehicles are things that occupy people most of the day. You have those things to fulfill your basic tasks for work and even when you were studying in college or school. But these kids we’ve encountered who live in poverty are grateful for the smallest things - the ability to study in schools that grant them free tuitions, indoor classrooms, adequate space and furniture to learn in, and teachers that are qualified to give them the education they need every day. While these low-cost schools provide facilities and infrastructure, they still lack complementaries for students such as books, uniforms, and stationery. Unlike most kids nowadays, the thought of having a smartphone is not something which would cross their mind, with the inability to afford basic things like school books.

Low-cost schools such as Bina Pusaka, Suraya, and Tunas Karya still buys these complementary needs for their students. They are paying for uniforms, books, and stationery which are supposed to be the student’s parents responsibility. Those students owe money to the school even after they graduate. This financial problem is quite complex and varies, they are linked to social problems the students faced at home and out of school. The school's lack of monetary resources will mean a reduction in the salary of teachers and other staff, and will, in turn, affect the education of the children. Though, while there are schools like the ones mentioned, other schools policies are aimed at pushing the students to manage their own financial problems. This is to make them more responsible for themselves, in areas such as helping their parents, saving money or earning money on their own. Bina Pusaka implemented this policy, which means now that some are able to pay their own tuition fees with money from savings, in addition to putting money aside for the costs associated with graduation. But there are still some students who spend money unwisely, unable to manage their own finances. Lack of family support and moral education increases this kind of behavior.

A helping hand can be a life changer for these kids. New books, uniforms, and stationery from the outside world boost morale both for the teachers, students, and even to the parents. This will result in less bullying and better quality of life for the students at the school, which will lead to higher results in the classroom. Thank you for everybody who spent their time and effort reading and sharing this page. Those who shared the same experience facing this problem please do contact us. Your story can contribute to our research and we might be inspired by what you have seen.