Govt freezes licensing of new technical schools<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The city will not get any new private technical
\nschools, or at least not until existing ones are improved, an
\nofficial of the Ministry of Education and Culture said.<\/p>\n
Kusnan Ismukanto, the head of the city office of the Ministry,
\nsaid that out of 107 private technical schools, only eight
\npercent have adequate equipment.<\/p>\n
In 1993, according to the statistics office records, there
\nwere 116 technical high schools, including the state-run ones.
\nThis represents a 10 percent increase from the previous year.<\/p>\n
\"In the future setting up new technical schools will not be
\npermitted,\" he was quoted by Antara as saying at a meeting
\nyesterday between the City Police and technical school
\nprincipals. It was hosted by Col. Benny Setiawan, the City Police
\ndirector for public counseling.<\/p>\n
Kusnan said the lack of equipment at technical schools is one
\nfactor which leads to the large incidence of student involvement
\nin brawls.<\/p>\n
\"In general technical school students also have lower grades
\ncompared to other secondary schools. They lack the necessary
\nspirit to study,\" Kusnan said.<\/p>\n
On Monday councilors revealed that fights from 1992 to 1995
\npredominantly involved technical school students.<\/p>\n
Supriadi, one of the principals, suggested that troublesome
\nstudents should be expelled, but they should be provided with
\nspecial education outside schools.<\/p>\n
Riswandha Imawan, a researcher who is studying mass
\ndestructive behavior with the city's public order agency, said
\nyesterday that students of technical schools experience a
\ndifferent environment compared to those from schools with a
\ngeneral curricula.<\/p>\n
\"Technical schools do not have a zoning system,\" he said,
\nreferring to the fact that other schools limit their intake to
\ncertain areas.<\/p>\n
Technical school students find that their schoolmates are all
\nfrom households in various areas of the city's outskirts \"who
\nhave lost out in the city's rapid development.\"<\/p>\n
The students spend more time and energy in being on time for
\nschool Riswandha said, an additional pressure other students may
\nnot face.<\/p>\n
And what is worse, \"their similar background instills a mutual
\nfeeling of being a deprived group,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Also, while their curriculum is specific, entrance tests to
\nmany companies, such as airlines, require knowledge gained
\nthrough the general curriculum.<\/p>\n
\"The situation is really pitiful...technical schools really
\nneed the attention of the Ministry of Education and Culture,\"
\nRiswandha said.<\/p>\n
The study, coordinated by Cornelius Lay of the Department of
\nSocial and Political Science at the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity, was commissioned by the city's public order office.<\/p>\n
The team came up with indications that brawls are made more
\ncomplicated by business interests. So far there is no clue as to
\nwho is paying students to fight. But Riswandha said brawls in
\nSurabaya, also a rapidly developing city, occur in strategic
\nbusiness areas like the fights in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The schools which have the larger plots are consistent
\ntargets,\" he said. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-freezes-licensing-of-new-technical-schools-1447893297",
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