Arientha Primanita – Slowly but surely, Malaka Jaya 06 Elementary School in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, is falling apart.
Situated in a narrow alley and surrounded by open gutters, the school hasn't been renovated since it was built in 1979.
The ceiling of one classroom has collapsed while another is sagging and being held up by wooden props. Both classrooms are too dangerous to use Elsewhere, the tiled floors are cracked and the paint is peeling from the walls.
Siti Aminah, a sixth-grade teacher who has been giving lessons in the prayer room since the ceiling of her classroom collapsed, said it was an accident waiting to happen.
"I was afraid to teach in that classroom," she told the Jakarta Globe. "I feared for the safety of the students and myself."
All she wants now, she said, is for the city to allocate the funding that is needed to renovate the termite-infested building. Unfortunately for Siti and her students, however, that is unlikely to happen.
The City Council has proposed slashing billions of rupiah from the education budget allocated for school repairs. Instead, it plans to spend Rp 90.3 billion ($10 million) on educational equipment, a decision that Governor Fauzi Bowo said was "seriously questionable."
The equipment shopping list includes a digital public announcement system costing Rp 2 billion and paper-marking software priced at Rp 11 billion.
Malaka Jaya is one of the four schools most critically in need of renovation, though in total some 346 schools have been identified as in need of repairs.
On Thursday, Deputy Governor Prijanto said it was time to quit squabbling over the proposed budget and focus on coming up with a solution.
"We shouldn't look back, we should see the facts on the ground – that there are schools badly in need of repairs," he said. "So the solution is to see what programs can be put on hold so that we can afford to make the repairs that are needed."
Firmansyah, chairman of the City Council's Commission E, which oversees welfare issues, said the commission had slashed the school renovation budget "due to efficiencies."
He added that the overall education budget, which makes up 28 percent of the city's entire 2011 budget, had not been affected.
"Based on the information we have, there are schools that receive a renovation budget every year but the repairs are never completed," he said. However, Dedi Priatna, principal of State Elementary School 14 in Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta, said otherwise.
He said his school applied for renovation funds every year, but only ever received minor amounts. "We just got enough to change the tiles on the floor," he says.
Dedi said the school had to dip into its Education Operational Aid (BOP) fund, which is meant to cover overheads, in order to repair its ceiling.
In one classroom the ceiling is propped up with a long pole, while parts of the floor have crumbled in. The school's exterior is awash in a coat of bright green paint, but Dedi said that only served to mask its real condition.
"The paint is flaking off the wooden frame and walls, so we painted it because we're ashamed of what the parents would say," he told the Globe.
It's not all bad news, however Back in Duren Sawit, one school has successfully been renovated and looks nothing like its previous self.
SDN 07 now has a small garden and fountain out front. Inside, the walls have been freshly painted green and yellow, and potted plants line the quad.
Syarifah, a teacher, says the school received major funding for repairs back in 2008.
But a lot more is needed. Gifari and Sandi, students at the nearby Malaka Jaya Elementary School, said they were sad about the condition of their school. "We want our school and our classrooms to look nice so that we can study properly," they tell the Globe.