Ministry of Education and Culture Records 18 Schools in Aceh Still Learning in Tents, 288 Others in the Cleaning Process

The Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) of the Republic of Indonesia, Abdul Mu'ti, gave information to the media in Aceh Tamiang, Monday. ANTARA/M.Ifdhal

JAKARTA - The Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) of the Republic of Indonesia, Abdul Mu'ti, stated that as many as 18 schools affected by floods and landslides in Aceh were studying in tents following the damage to educational facilities due to disasters.

"We will continue to strive to provide emergency schools for students who study in tents. The construction will be carried out as soon as possible," said Abdul Mu'ti in Aceh Tamiang Regency, Monday, quoted by Antara.

The statement was made on the sidelines of being the master of ceremonies on the first day of post-disaster school entry at SMA 4 Kejuruan Muda, Aceh Tamiang Regency.

He explained that Aceh Province was the largest affected area for educational facilities due to flood and landslide disasters, especially in Aceh Tamiang Regency.

He said that floods and landslides hit Aceh, impacting 2,756 schools/educational units spread across all regencies/cities affected by the disaster.

He explained that as many as 90 percent of schools in Aceh Province or 2,468 schools were operating, 18 schools were using tents, and 288 schools were still in the process of cleaning.

He said on that occasion his party distributed as many as 2 thousand school kits symbolically from a total of 15,500 units.

The Ministry of Education and Culture also provided 78 tents and 100 emergency classrooms, 90,000 copies of textbooks, 300 million psychosocial support, and an Emergency Education Operational Fund of Rp. 11.29 billion in Aceh.

On this occasion, the Minister of Education and Culture, who was accompanied by the Acting Head of the Aceh Education Office, Murthalamuddin, visited the development of school revitalization in Aceh Tamiang and Langsa.

In Langsa, the Minister of Education and Culture visited SDN 4 Langsa and SDIT Muhammadiyah Langsa, which was also attended by the Mayor of Langsa, Jeffry Sentana.