Dutch school opens for Its doors<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Although the school uses Dutch as a language of instruction,
\nLisa, 11, a sixth-year student of the Netherlands International
\nSchool (NIS) in Jeruk Purut, South Jakarta, talked in fluent
\nEnglish about her school.<\/p>\n
\"I joined the school two years ago after my parents moved to
\nIndonesia. This is a great school, and I like it very much. Here,
\nI can learn English as well,\" she told The Jakarta Post on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
She said that she enjoyed learning English, and hoped she
\ncould practice the language more.<\/p>\n
Lisa's hope will soon be fulfilled because NIS, which was
\nestablished in the late 1960s has decided to adopt International
\nPrimary Curriculum (IPC) which enables the school to carry most
\nof its lessons in English while maintaining Dutch and other
\nlanguages as a medium of instruction for certain subjects.<\/p>\n
School board member Karen Peters said that they would begin
\nthe new curriculum for preschool students in January before
\napplying it to the primary students later in August.<\/p>\n
\"We will welcome children of any nationality, including
\nIndonesians, to enroll in the school. With the new curriculum,
\nchildren of other nationalities, such as German, French, or
\nIndonesian, could learn reading, writing, and maths in their own
\nlanguage and at the same time study other subjects in English,\"
\nshe told the Post.<\/p>\n
The preschool has began accepting students from one-and-a-half
\nyears old to four years old from other nationalities since the
\nbeginning of the month.<\/p>\n
Peters said that students who studied under the new curriculum
\nwould have a school certificate that is recognized
\ninternationally after they graduated, and could continue their
\nstudies anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
As the oldest international school in the country, NIS
\ncurrently has 120 students, comprising of 40 preschool students
\nand 80 primary school students.<\/p>\n
\"After over 30 years of only accepting children from Dutch or
\nfamilies where one of the parents is Dutch, we have decided to
\nopen our school to the wider community by using English as our
\nmedium of instruction. We do this because we want to reach out to
\nmore students,\" NIS principal Th. J. M. Gunneweg said.<\/p>\n
He added that many Dutch citizens here need English
\nproficiency as they often do not go back to the Netherlands but
\ncontinue working in other countries, most of the time English-
\nspeaking countries.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bosch, who was waiting to pick up her children, welcomed
\nthe school's plan to introduce a new curriculum saying that the
\nuse of English as the medium of instruction in school would
\nsurely attract more students, and provide language skills for the
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
\"This is a very good school with very good facilities and very
\ngood curriculum. I have two children here, and, of course, I want
\nthem to master English for their future,\" she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dutch-school-opens-for-its-doors-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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