Indonesia's demographic dividend threatened by lengthy COVID-19 school closures

Ni Luh Nael, 13-years-old, helps her grandmother after dropping out of school during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, September 11, 2021. Picture taken September 11, 2021. REUTERS/Wayan Sukarda NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

JAKARTA/DENPASAR (Reuters) - Ni Kadek Suriani was looking forward to starting her second year of junior high school last year, before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Then her parents lost their jobs and she was forced to help scratch a living on Indonesia's holiday island of Bali.

"I had time selling tissues at traffic lights," the 13-year-old, wearing a black Metallica T-shirt, recalled at the headquarters of local charity Bali Street Mums, which now sponsors her studies.