Our school rebuilding effort in Tangerang area started in 2014. We have so far rebuilt 10 PAUD (Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini / early childhood education) schools and 1 junior high school. We do not stop after rebuilding construction is done. We assist the schools for the next 5 years to ensure their sustainability.
At the end of February, we held a focus group discussion with principals and teachers of the 8 schools we rebuilt and found that the number of students steadily increased by about 30% on average annually. This is due to increased parents’ interests in enrolling their children to the schools. We also found that students were more enthusiastic in their learning at the schools.
The schools are not without challenges. Most of the schools could not charge tuition since parents of students were mostly rice farmers and fishermen living in poverty. Salary of the teachers were therefore very low, ranging from Rp 150,000 to Rp 300,000 per month. Government’s education operational assistance (BOP) was not evenly distributed for PAUD, creating more budget strain especially when the schools needed reparation.
At the end of the discussion, we proposed a few options for the schools, including training for principals and teachers that would cover financial management, capacity building, parenting, and entrepreneurship.
There are still more schools in Tangerang that need rebuilding. Click here to find out how you can partner with us.
