There Is An SD In Surakarta Only Gets 1 New Student, City Government Launches School Merger Program

Illustration of school children in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Between)

Central Java - The Surakarta City Government has begun to map schools for a regrouping program following the case of a shortage of students in the new student admissions (PPDB) in 2022.

Acting Head of the Surakarta City Education Office Hery Mulyono said the problem that arose in this year's PPDB was the shortage of students in several elementary schools (SD).

"The most prominent thing is that SDN Sriwedari only has one child (a new student, ed)," he said in Solo, Wednesday, July 13.

In this regard, according to him, it is actually not a big problem. In fact, there were no objections from the parents of the students.

"However, the government's obligation to improve, in the report earlier (to the Mayor of Surakarta Gibran Rakabuming, ed.) we stated that regrouping is only one of the solutions to the problem of the shortage of school students," he said.

He said the merger of schools could be carried out as long as it complied with the conditions required by the government, including the number of students in one school was less than 100 children, the distance between one school and another was less than one kilometer, and there were two or more schools located in one yard.

His party noted that for PPDB this year there were around 10 elementary schools in Surakarta City that accepted less than 10 new students.

"It can be regrouped. For Sriwedari Elementary School, we are currently thinking about regrouping, but it's not simple, today it was not regrouped. It needs a process," he said.

Regarding the minimal number of new students at Sriwedari Elementary School, one of the reasons is because the school is not located in a densely populated area.

"For example, when compared to Semanggi or Sangkrah, there are fewer children who want to enter elementary school. Even if there are, they will definitely choose a quality school, because they also know the economic conditions around them," he said.

He said the merger of schools could be done with the nearest school.

"The closest is the distance, the purpose of zoning is to be efficient, it doesn't cost a lot. If Sriwedari is also close to Earth, there is nothing from parents," he said.