Education minister supports elite schools<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman said
\non Saturday that he supports the setting up of special schools
\nfor gifted and talented students.<\/p>\n
Wardiman said the establishment of elite schools would not be
\nunfair to other public schools.<\/p>\n
\"Every student, either from public schools or elite ones, is
\na national asset which is very important to the progress of our
\ndevelopment in the future,\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
He told members of the Soposurung Foundation, who visited the
\nministry on Saturday, that students with higher intellectual
\ncapabilities need special facilities.<\/p>\n
Lazy<\/p>\n
\"If we place them in regular public schools, they will
\nprobably become lazy and lose interest in studying,\" Wardiman
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The government is trying to establish more elite senior high
\nschools like SMA Taruna Nusantara in Magelang, Central Java,
\nwhich was established in 1990 by private investors in cooperation
\nwith the Indonesian Armed Forces and the Taman Siswa Institution.<\/p>\n
Other elite schools established by private investors include
\nPelita Harapan in the Lippo Karawaci project in Tangerang, the Al
\nAzhar Boarding School in the Lippo City Complex in Bekasi, St.
\nLaurensia in the Alam Sutera housing complex in Serpong,
\nTangerang, and the Jaya Global School in the Bintaro Jaya housing
\ncomplex in Tangerang.<\/p>\n
Wardiman told the chairman of the Soposurung Foundation,
\nGustave Panjaitan, that the private sector has been necessary in
\nthe absence of government funds.<\/p>\n
\"There are many obstacles to establishing more elite schools
\nhere, especially the problems of funding. Public participation in
\neducation is very important, as in the case of the SMA 3 senior
\nhigh school in Balige, Medan,\" Wardiman said.<\/p>\n
Approval<\/p>\n
The Soposurung Foundation, founded by Minister of
\nAdministrative Reforms T.B. Silalahi in 1990, turned SMA 3 from a
\nregular school into an elite school in 1991 with the approval of
\nthe Ministry of Education and Culture.<\/p>\n
The school, now equipped with a library, laboratories,
\ncomputer terminals and sport facilities, gives 20 percent of its
\nseats to the country's junior high school graduates with the
\nhighest grades and the remaining 80 percent to students who pass
\nthe entrance tests.(31)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/education-minister-supports-elite-schools-1447893297",
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