National Education and Culture Ministry deputy minister for education Musliar Kasim says the government needs to pay special attention to improve the education access for children in Papua
“We need a special breakthrough to provide better access to education for children in Papua. We will make sure that every child in Papua can go to school,” Musliar said in Jakarta on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.
The government plans to build new schools in strategic areas to overcome the main problem — the overwhelming distances between students homes and existing schools, he said.
Another way to resolve this problem could be to turn some of the schools in Papua into boarding schools, Musliar added.
Another problem that needs to be addressed is the shortage of teachers in the region. According to Musliar, many teachers in Papua preferred to teach in city areas than in outer regions.