Thousands of Indonesian children in one district alone have been forced to drop out of school because of poverty.

More than 20,000 out of 43,336 students aged between 13 and 15 dropped out last year in the district of Banjarnegara in Java, the Jakarta Post said. Almost 10,000 of a total of 108,395 elementary students also dropped out, the Post quoted figures from the local administration as saying.

Thousands of children could not attend school at all because their parents cannot afford fees, it said. "Poverty is the main reason. We hope the economic crisis will end so that the parents can finance their children's schooling," local education chief Washadun (eds: one name) was quoted as saying.

The East Asian financial crisis of 1997/98 forced millions of Indonesians back below the poverty line. The state subsidises education but parents still face a number of fees and charges to send their children to school.