SIS believes in diversity among students<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The six-year-old blonde girl said school was a place where she
\ncould learn and meet new friends, especially those from different
\nbackgrounds and nationalities.<\/p>\n
\"I have no difficulty coping at school,\" said Setia, half-
\nDutch and half-Indonesian, talking about the Singaporean
\nInternational School (SIS).<\/p>\n
Diversity is the theme of the school, whose walls are
\ndecorated with student paintings.<\/p>\n
A poster of different traditional Indonesian clothing hangs on
\none of the poles in the corridor, some classrooms are decorated
\nwith red Chinese paper lanterns, while hanging in the
\nmultifunction hall are student copies of old European paintings.<\/p>\n
The school has students from 35 different nationalities and
\naccording to the school's marketing and parent relations
\ndirector, Peter Konings, the school embraces the differences in
\nits students by modifying the school's Singapore curriculum to
\nfit into this rich diversity.<\/p>\n
Peter said Singaporeans, Indonesians, Koreans, Japanese and
\nMalaysians made up the bulk of students.<\/p>\n
\"We also have a lot of mixed blood children, Australians,
\nAmericans, Canadians, Romanians and Cubans,\" he told The Jakarta
\nPost in a recent interview at his office on the Bona Vista campus
\nin Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
SIS, which also has campuses in Kelapa Gading and Pantai Indah
\nKapuk, both in East Jakarta, was originally established in 1997
\nin Pluit, also in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The school was established to cater to the needs of
\nSingaporean expatriates.<\/p>\n
After the monetary crisis struck in 1997, the school was moved
\nto Gandaria, South Jakarta, in 1998 and students from different
\nnationalities began enrolling.<\/p>\n
Konings said there had never been any racial tension at the
\nschool, thanks to its curriculum and policies, including the one
\nthat requires all students to communicate in English.<\/p>\n
\"This will avoid grouping and ensure that everyone mingles and
\ngets to know each other. That is also why our social studies does
\nnot focus on one particular country. Students are taught about,
\nfor example, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The school takes a similar approach to religion, teaching
\nstudents the history and practices of all religions.<\/p>\n
\"We're not focusing on one particular religion .... We believe
\nthat the role of religious education is in the parents' hands,
\nnot the school,\" Konings said.<\/p>\n
Teachers at the school are also trained to be open-minded. The
\nschool's teachers, a mixture of Asians and Westerners, go through
\na three-month training course on Indonesian culture.<\/p>\n
\"That enables them to adapt and understand the children of
\nlong-term expatriates who have already adapted or need to adapt
\nto Indonesian culture,\" he said. (005)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sis-believes-in-diversity-among-students-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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