27,181 Children Aged 7-18 Years In Wonosobo Are Not Touched By School, Geographical Distance Is A Trigger

WONOSOBO - The Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) of Wonosobo Regency, Central Java stated, as many as 27,181 children aged 7-18 years were categorized as never going to school and not going to school anymore. Need serious attention and handling to overcome this problem.

The Head of Social and Cultural Governance of the Wonosobo Regency Bappeda, Amin Purnadi, said that one of the initiatives to tackle this issue was the Mayo School Program or Ayo Sekolah.

"We invite a number of relevant regional apparatus organizations (OPD) to reduce the number of out-of-school children (ATS) by bringing up the idea of the Mayo School Program," Amin said after a cross-sector coordination meeting discussed the handling of ATS in Wonosobo, Antara, Friday, October 8.

The Coordination Meeting will take place on October 7-8 2021 involving the Youth and Sports Education Office, the Permasdes Social Service, the Population and Civil Registry Office, the PPKBPPA Service, and the People's Welfare Section of the Regional Secretariat.

"This coordination forum is in order to equalize perceptions about how future efforts to deal with the problem of out-of-school children together so that the implementation does not overlap and can reach the right target," he said.

Amin Purnadi added, after the coordination meeting, his party immediately followed up with integrated data mapping, before proceeding to the regional action plan stage.

Head of the Education and Culture Sub-Sector, Wonosobo Youth and Sports Education Office, Sri Fatonah WI, added that the reason for the high number of children not attending school in Wonosobo Regency was due to mountainous geographical conditions with relatively uneven contours. As a result, it is difficult for children to access education.

"Then there are also remote villages and hamlets in Wonosobo Regency with varying degrees of difficulty to reach the nearest school, both at the elementary, junior high and high school levels," he said.

Based on data on transportation service maps and the distribution of junior high schools, he said, not all schools are on the transportation service route, so the distance between home and school is quite far.

The long distance, according to him, also adds to the burden for parents to provide additional transportation costs, both when they have to use motorcycle taxis and are forced to allow their children to drive 2-wheeled vehicles even though they are not yet allowed.

The high ATS, he said, led to a low average length of schooling (RTLS) in Wonosobo Regency. Data for 2020, the RTLS of Wonosobo Regency is still at 6.81 years, far below the RTLS of Central Java Province which was at 7.69 in the same year.

"In the regional area of the former Kedu Residency, Wonosobo Regency is also in the lowest position, so it takes seriousness from all parties so that this condition can be improved," said Sri Fatonah WI.