Is good education for the rich only?<\/p>\n
The number of private schools which are several times more
\nexpensive than public schools are on the rise. Even these days,
\nin the midst of the country's gloom, private schools evidently
\nremain popular. The Jakarta Post's Ida Indawati Khouw, Maria
\nEndah Hulupi, and contributors I. Christianto and Prapti
\nWidinugraheni look into the issue. This report has been
\nprepared in conjunction with the National Education Day that
\nfalls on May 2.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For the well-to-do family, no sum is too much
\nfor a precious child's education and it has nothing to do with
\nconceit.<\/p>\n
So between February and June every year, parents cannot avoid
\nthe routine headache: finding new schools for their children
\nwhich are \"good\" but affordable. Even the students who have just
\nbeen promoted to the next grade have to be re-registered -- and
\nthis means a lot of money has to change hands.<\/p>\n
A parent registering her son at a private elementary school at
\nthe upscale residential area of Puri Kembangan, West Jakarta,
\nreported that places were \"auctioned off\" at between Rp 3 million
\nand 12 million.<\/p>\n
\"This means that if you can afford Rp 12 million your child's
\nadmittance is assured. If you haggle for around Rp 3 million,
\nyour child would be put on the 'waiting list' although your child
\nalready spent two years in the very same school,\" said the
\nparent.<\/p>\n
Some private schools reportedly charge much more than that,
\nlike Pelita Harapan in Karawaci, Tangerang, reportedly one of the
\nmost expensive schools in Jakarta, which refused to disclose its
\nfees to the press.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, parents' interest in sending their children to
\nexpensive schools is very high. New ones are being built and
\nschool parking areas are full of flashy cars.<\/p>\n
Sending your child to an expensive private school is a status
\nsymbol of the wealthy.<\/p>\n
Muchtar Buchori, an education expert and former rector of
\nJakarta Muhammadiyah University, has a theory on the phenomena.<\/p>\n
\"The growing number of expensive schools shows that people are
\ntired of mediocre education. Parents now want their children to
\nbecome high achievers. Successful schools or elite schools are
\nthose that can bring students out of mediocrity,\" he says.<\/p>\n
The main characteristics of elite schools are emphasis on hard
\nwork and a balanced educational program.<\/p>\n
\"This means a balance between physical and mental exercises,
\nbetween physical sciences and social and human sciences, and
\nbetween knowledge about the present and the past. What happens in
\nour public schools is usually a reduction of all or some of these
\ncharacteristics,\" he says.<\/p>\n
Genuinely good<\/p>\n
The incredibly expensive school fees have given rise to fears
\nof \"commercialization\" of education. Schools are deemed profit
\nseeking and forget their noble mission.<\/p>\n
Buchori agrees that while some expensive schools may be
\ngenuinely good, others are simply commercial.<\/p>\n
\"Commercialization means that money collected from students is
\nnot used to improve education services, infrastructure or
\nteachers' welfare, but is used entirely to enrich the school
\norganizers. Commercialization may also happen when policies are
\ndetermined solely by the school's foundation,\" he says.<\/p>\n
In their defense, exclusive private schools argue that \"good
\neducation needs a lot of money\", as Hannah Achmadi, public
\nrelations officer of Sekolah Pelita Harapan says.<\/p>\n
Money going into Pelita Harapan's coffers, she says, is used
\nfor facilities and activities such as string orchestras, ballet
\ndancing, choir groups, traditional angklung, kolintang (bamboo
\npercussion instrument) and gamelan musical groups, sports
\ngymnasiums, Olympic-size swimming pools and equestrian
\nactivities. The school also has a health center and a bookstore.<\/p>\n
Apart from conducting activities at its own branches, Pelita
\nHarapan also provides financial and managerial support to small
\nschools in remote areas including Bengkulu, Lampung and Central
\nJava.<\/p>\n
\"In the second and third year at the senior secondary school,
\nPelita Harapan offers the International Baccalaureate (IB)
\nprogram, which provides students a bigger chance of being
\naccepted at universities worldwide,\" she says.<\/p>\n
Nasroul Hamzah of the Al-Azhar Islamic Education Foundation in
\nKebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, fiercely rejects the \"school
\ncommercialization\" allegation.<\/p>\n
\"If a school is applying high tuition fees, there must be good
\nreason for it. Most likely the schools are improving their
\nquality or developing additional facilities for the students,\" he
\nsays.<\/p>\n
Henny Supolo Sitepu, a teacher at Al Izhar in South Jakarta,
\nwhere entrance fees average Rp 7.5 million and monthly tuition Rp
\n200,000 offers an interesting explanation.<\/p>\n
A big proportion of school funds go to teacher development
\nprograms which include sending teachers abroad to gain experience
\nand follow developments in education at the international level.<\/p>\n
\"We believe that the quality of the school is determined very
\nmuch by the quality of the teachers,\" Henny says. Therefore much
\nemphasis is put on teachers' welfare, which includes providing
\nthem with a housing complex, complete with transport facilities
\nand a childcare center.<\/p>\n
\"I totally disagree with the view that quality schools are
\nprovided merely for the rich ... It's like saying that exclusive
\nschools are always good while others are not. Quality is
\ndetermined by the teacher, and the quality of a teacher is not
\ndetermined by the luxury or facilities of the schools,\" she says.<\/p>\n
Parents<\/p>\n
Parents have their own reasons why they are willing to spend a
\nlot of money to send their children to expensive schools. They
\nhave one thing in common, though -- that the good private schools
\nhave the best teachers and best facilities.<\/p>\n
Well-known private schools compete to lure prospective
\nstudents with modern facilities, such as laboratories and extra-
\ncurricular activities that few public schools have.<\/p>\n
Many parents cite security reasons for choosing a private
\nschool. Others cite religious reasons. For example, religious
\nlessons at Islamic schools are considered better than that of
\npublic schools. Some public schools do not offer religious
\nclasses for Christian students on the grounds that they do not
\nhave a teacher and students get their grades from the Sunday
\nschool.<\/p>\n
Housewife Debora, whose 4-year old son, Azarya, goes to a
\nMontessori kindergarten in Bekasi (40 km east of Jakarta), says:
\n\"Indeed I feel my son's school fees are expensive. I paid a Rp
\n2.5 million entrance fee and continue to pay Rp 250,000 in
\nmonthly fees ... but so far, I have no regrets.\"<\/p>\n
She says the kindergarten has a \"good education system\" where
\nstudents are not taught to read and write, but learn practical
\nskills like sewing on buttons, washing dishes after meals and
\nplaying with educational toys. The school also uses English as
\nthe medium.<\/p>\n
The steep cost of private schools combined with tough
\ncompetition to enter them and the determination of parents to see
\ntheir children get \"good quality education\" no doubt calls for
\nsound education planning.<\/p>\n
Kusdiati Norman Indrajid, a housewife living in West Jakarta,
\nhas already enrolled one of her daughters into SLTP Iman
\nPengharapan Kasih (IPK), a junior secondary school in the
\nGreenville housing complex, West Jakarta, although the daughter
\nis still in the sixth grade of elementary school.<\/p>\n
\"I have already paid Rp 6.5 million as an entrance fee and Rp
\n290,000 in tuition fees,\" Kusdiati says, adding that the early
\nenrollment was \"just to make sure my daughter enters a good
\nschool\".<\/p>\n
In times when the per capita income is less than $700 and
\npoverty remains a major problem in the country, the fear that
\ngood education is moving out of the poor majority's reach is
\nwell-founded.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/is-good-education-for-the-rich-only-1447893297",
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