120 children in Kupang return to school
Djemi Amnifu, The Jakarta Post, Kupang | Archipelago | Tue, June 16 2015, 4:41 PM

One hundred and twenty street children in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara who normally work to supplement the family income have gone back to school with the help of the Kupang municipal administration.

“All the street children aged between seven and 17 from throughout the municipality will return to school at the supervision of 12 selected staff from the Kupang Manpower and Transmigration Agency,” Deputy Mayor Hermanus Man said in Kupang on Tuesday.

He that besides getting the children back in school, the city administration would partner with NGOs to counsel the children’s low-income families.

“Children are the city’s future and should have a complete secondary education before joining the workforce. So the city administration will form a partnership with NGOs get child workers to return to school,” he said.

The head of the Manpower and Transmigration Agency, Yeris Padji Kana, said the move was part of the administration’s program to eliminate child labor in the city.

He said the school dropout rate in the city was high because many poor families wanted their children to work to help them survive economic hardship.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) Jakarta also has a project to eliminate child labor and get children to return to school.(++++)
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