Pondok Indah school is losing students<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A school in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta is
\nrapidly losing its students due to the expansion of a nearby
\ndevelopment project.<\/p>\n
\"We could just sell the plot and move, but we have a
\nresponsibility to the residents that began the school in the late
\n1960s,\" Syaifuddin, one of the school's founders, told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Around 100 students have left the Al-Fauzain elementary
\nmadrasah ibtidaiyah Islamic school, which once boasted 400
\nstudents.<\/p>\n
Students started to decrease as families began moving out in
\n1987, when construction of the Pondok Indah mosque began,
\nSyaifuddin said.<\/p>\n
Syaifuddin, who is also the head of the neighborhood,
\nregretted that PT Metropolitan Kencana has not approached the
\nschool.<\/p>\n
He also said residents have yet to reach agreement on a
\nproposal they are considering to present to the company that they
\ncan be moved as a community.<\/p>\n
The development project is under PT Metropolitan Kencana,
\nwhich first began developing the Pondok Indah area into luxurious
\nhousing complexes in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
The school, located in a kampong of the Pondok Pinang
\nsubdistrict, lies right across the street from the Masjid Raya
\nPondok Indah mosque.<\/p>\n
\"We are worried about the education of the children,\"
\nSyaifuddin said. He could not guarantee that current first
\ngraders could complete their education at the school.<\/p>\n
\"Every day, you can see families moving out their furniture,\"
\na local resident said.<\/p>\n
A representative of the company, Purwoto, confirmed there has
\nbeen no negotiations as of yet on the school site.<\/p>\n
\"We have not approached the school yet,\" Purwoto said.<\/p>\n
The company is now buying up land from families who have
\nagreed to its prices, he added.<\/p>\n
Purwoto said land price per square meter is Rp 1 million
\n(US$426.80) to Rp 2 million. However, residents have said that
\nthe land is being sold for Rp 850,000 to Rp 950,000 per square
\nmeter through brokers.<\/p>\n
\"But the value of the homes is not taken into account,\"
\nSyaifuddin said.<\/p>\n
The school and the surrounding kampong, which is next to the
\nongoing construction of the Wisma Pondok Indah office building,
\nwill be made into an additional office building area, Purwoto
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Syamsul Bahri, a teacher at the school, said the school may
\nhave to move out by the year 2000, given its rapid loss of
\nstudents.<\/p>\n
\"If one family sells out (to the developer), this could mean
\nthat three students will leave the school. If the family owns a
\nrow of rented houses, this means all our students who live there
\nwill move out,\" added Syamsul, who is also a resident of the
\narea.<\/p>\n
In addition, Syamsul noted that should the school move out, it
\nwill mean \"starting from zero\". The school will have to seek out
\nnew students, who may not be able to pay the monthly Rp 6,000
\nschool fees, he said.<\/p>\n
Syamsul, who teaches four subjects and four classes in the
\nmorning and afternoon, claimed that the school's graduates are
\nrelatively better off than those of other madrasah in the area.<\/p>\n
\"It is prestigious enough for a madrasah to have 16 graduates
\nwho made it to the state-owned SMP 87 junior high school (in
\nPondok Pinang) like we did last year,\" he said. \"Others have one
\nor two or none.\"<\/p>\n
Islamic madrasah schools teach both the general curricula and
\nspecial subjects on the Koran and Islam. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pondok-indah-school-is-losing-students-1447893297",
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