Pesisir Selatan Regency Government Targets Free School Dropouts By 2024

Rusma Regent Yul Anwar/Photo: Antara

PAINAN - The Pesisir Selatan Regency Government, West Sumatra targets that for the next two years there will be no more school-age children from underprivileged families who do not go to school because of financial problems. The Regent of Rusma Yul Anwar said that his party through the Education Office and Social Service was conducting data collection in each village. related to school-age children from underprivileged families who drop out of school due to lack of funds. "Because education is one of the basic services that must be carried out by every government in this country, both on a national and regional scale," said Regent Rusma in Painan, Monday, March 21. According to the regent, the administration of 12 years of education is a mandate for the opening of the 1945 Constitution, in accordance with the objectives of Indonesian independence which contributes to the intellectual life of the nation. the quality of human resources, one of which is through subsidies for education costs. Therefore, district governments need accurate data, so that policies and financing allocated through the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget are accurate and truly reach the target. "Without qualified human resources, It is impossible for the program to improve the welfare of the community and the region to be carried out properly," explained the regent, quoted by Antara. The problem with this is that it is difficult to collect data through student information. "Sometimes from the appearance it looks like a capable child, in fact it is not. And vice versa. Well, with this tracking, hopefully it will be more realistic," he said.

He conveyed that the district government since the 2021-2022 school year has allocated Rp2.7 billion from the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) for subsidies for education costs. Regional Medium-Term Development (RPJMD) 2021-2026. This policy, he explained, is targeted at being able to boost the average number of years of schooling and the expected length of schooling, so that the objectives of basic education services are actually achieved according to the provisions. Based on data released by the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2020 there were 5,988, out of 40,527 school-age children from underprivileged families in Pesisir Selatan Regency who are no longer in school. Of these, most of them are at the elementary school (SD) and junior high school (SMP) education levels. "We are optimistic that this will be completed by 2024," he said.