Disabled, street children`s spirit to get education

Antara News, Sunday, April 4, Amie Fenia Arimbi, 2010 03:14 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - It seemed to be an important day at Zinnia School in the Tebet area, South Jakarta. Students were marching around in the school compound waving small flags as if they were expecting an important guest.

Then, they do something else. They step on a stage placed in the middle of the school yard and begin to move their bodies like in a dance. Wearing white uniforms and long batik scarves, Nida (10) and seven other children enthusiastically shake their hips to the rhythm of a children`s song played on a radio tape.

At a glance, the Zinnia School pupils looked like common school children doing an outdoor activity. Actually they were not ordinary students because they were all deaf or otherwise physically disadvantaged. They made their dance movements by mimmicking their teacher who was guiding them from some distance.

Established since 1976, Zinnia foundation was initially a conventional kindergarten. But its owner, Imas Gunawan, in 1977 decided to change it into a shool for children with physical handicaps.

"We started by teaching 10 disabled students at the time. Now, Zinnia has 80 students of elementary and junior high school age," Imas said.

She said of the total of 76 students at Zinnia, half were deaf while the others were suffering from Down`s Syndrome. The school was teaching them abilities that would help them to manage on their own in their daily life.

Deaf students were taught to hear simple sounds such as those from a drum or gong in order to stimulate their reaction while Down Syndrome students were given simpler lessons such as how to pronounce daily words and differentiate colors.

"Using total communications, namely through sign language and lip movements, the teachers help the deaf students to listen to sound with the help of earing aids. We even teach them how to dance through a simple command system from a teacher backstage as performed today," Imas said.

Yayuk (45), teacher in the deaf students` class as well as the dance instructor said the students were very cooperative when attending class.

"Some hyperactive students need extra care while others are very slow in absorbing lessons so that the teacher needs to utter the same things repeatedly. But overall, I consider the obstacles as the risk of the job and I am pleased to be able to teach them" Yayuk said.

Meanwhile, Novika Prihartono (12), a street child from Sunter, North Jakarta, expressed his hope for a better life through education.

The fourth grade student in Elementary School 9 in Sunter said he used to help his mother to do the laundry or work at the nearest traditional market to earn money for his school fees.

"I used to do many jobs to help my parents providing daily needs for our family while paying my school fees. Fortunately, a friend in school told me to go to Aulia foundation for street and poor children. The foundation gives me a scholarship and allows me to attend some extra courses held in their building in Danau Sunter housing complex," he said.

Edi Hidajat, the founder of Aulia foundation, said street children also had the right to get education. The former successful entrepreneur argued street children or those coming from very poor families were often unable to get school education as a consequence of their activity in helping their parents to make money.

"We used to conduct an approach to the parent first, then the child. We give those children a motivation to continue their education. Some of our alumni have now become hotel managers and entrepreneurs. They have high motivation to get a better life," he said.

Now, Aulia foundation also provide health examination and micro finance training for housewives in the Sunter area.

Obstacle

Contrast with the disabled and street children`s spirit to get education, the Zinnia school and Aulia Foundation as the shelter for the children are having obstacle in funding their activity. As a private foundations, both Zinnia and Aulia fully rely on donations from foreign or private parties.

In 2003, when the Zinnia school building almost collapsed, the foundation received a donation from the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia worth US$81,000. The funds were used to rebuild the school purchase hearing aids for deaf students and basic needs for teaching activity such as cabinets and chairs.

"The donation is still not enough for the maintenance of school building and teaching equipments. However, we always try to make use of the funds to help the students to learn more," Imas, chairperson of Zinnia foundation, said.

The same story happened to Aulia foundation. The institution had received donations from the Netherlands, Sumitomo Bank, Jakarta-Japan Network and other private parties.

In 2001, Aulia foundation received US$68,000 from Japan`s Embassy in Indonesia to rebuild a four-story house in Sunter area which functioned as the center of the foundation`s activity.

Govt`s Attention

Minister of National Education, Mohammad Nuh, said the government was planning to increase the salaries of teachers at special schools to Rp4 million in 2011. The minister added apart from the salaries, the teachers could gain more from the incentive and other life support fees given by the government.

The minister added disabled schools would also get special incentives aimed to increase the quality of education given to students there.

As to the street children, the Ministry of People`s Welfare has committed to give a conditional grant in the form of savings to 6,000 street children in 10 provinces in Indonesia in 2010. Some of the provinces are Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Lampung, West Java and South Sulawesi.

In distributing the funds, the government will be assisted by several social institutions across Indonesia.

"The amount of the grants ranges from Rp900,000 to Rp1,8 million per child depending on the social worker`s estimation over the need of each sreet children," Director for Children`s Social Service at the Ministry of People`s Welfare, Raden Harry Hikmat, said.

He explained the program was aimed to help the street children to get access to health and education. The aid was also expected to help supporting the family and social institution to fulfill the basic needs of the street children.

"We had implemented the same program in five provinces in 2009. The result was quiet good, about 70-80 percent of street children were reuniting with their family again or continuing their formal education," he said.