Japan builds new school for disabled children in Tangerang

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang 

SLB Yanaiz, a special school for children with learning disabilities sponsored by the Japanese government officially opens its doors Tuesday. 

Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Shiojiri officiated at the opening of the school which particularly aims to educated disabled children from low-income families. 

The school is located on Jl. H. Ridwan, Pinang district, in Tangerang municipality. 

"We're very happy now we have a new school building. We feel comfortable in the classroom and it's closer to my home," Khalid, 20, told The Jakarta Post. 

Khalid, who is autistic and must manage the chronic condition of hydrocephalus, where excessive liquid buils up regularly in the crenium, said he only had to pay between Rp 5,000 (50 US cents) and Rp 10,000 in school fees each month. 

SLB Yanaiz is managed by Erihatu Samasuru Lesuri Tapirone (ESLT), a humanitarian foundation Izak Timisela established in 2000. 

"We started the school in a rumah petak (modest rental house). Now we have a three-storey building with 12 classrooms, a clinic, a kitchen, a teachers' office and an auditorium all because of the interest of community members and the Japanese government," Izak said. 

The new school building, which cost Rp 1.1 billion, was erected with financial assistance from the Japanese government on a 250-square-meter plot in Poncol Bojong kampung. 

It focuses on teaching children with various disabilities including autism, visual impairment, blindness and partial or complete deafness. 

According to Shiojiri, the Japanese government financed the project, which serves both children and adults, under the Grassroots Program with financial assistance amounting to $85,994.