Bali has a few preschools that accepts children from as young as 3 years old to Year 12 in secondary school. One of such school is the Bali International School. It is the oldest and most prestigious school located in Sanur, Bali. It has qualified professional teachers and well developed facilities such as a sports field, well equipped library and also computer labs. It accepts Balinese and also international students.
However, Bali is not as fantastic as it seems on the outside. What many tourists do not see is the increasing rate of poverty in many rural areas in Bali such as the poorest district on Bali – Jembrana. Children are usually deprived of education because of the poverty cycle they live in. Unemployment and underemployment rates are high here. Wages are extremely low and workers depend on seasonal or casual labour to earn minimal money that can barely feed themselves.
Indonesia has put in place measures to ensure that all children receive universal basic education but the plan has received numerous setbacks ever since its establishment. It covers nine years in primary and junior secondary school. Supposedly, it was supposed to be ready by 2003 but because of the political and financial setbacks Indonesia has encountered, the plan has since deferred to 2008.
However there are some positive outcomes of this project. It is transforming schools in Jembrana from wrecks to a decent and conducive environment for children to study. An example of such school is Yeh Umbul 3 Primary School in Mendoyo Subdistrict. This school have underwent renovations to refurnish its classrooms and floor tiles. Electric lights are also brought into the classroom for the first time.
As schools in Jembrana are usually crammed and small in size, poor conditions of the classroom, old teaching aids and ragged school books are a common sight. With the introduction of this project, many schools are now looking forward to new books and a better environment.
Not only do children need to be educated, parents need to be educated about allowing their children to attend school as well. As fathers usually do not view girls as important and deem them as ‘worthless’, they are often deprived of the chance to go to school whereas their brothers receive priority to attend school. Thus, such mentality should be changed and parents ought to realize the importance of allowing their children regardless of gender to attend school as it is one of the ways to get out of poverty.
There is also an organization – The Bali Children’s Project, which aims at helping to get children into schools and getting funds worldwide to help these children.
