500 poor students to be enrolled

JAKARTA (JP): Some 500 junior high school graduates from disadvantaged families, who as of Monday had yet to be accepted by any school due to their low grades, will soon be placed in a number of public senior high schools to join their peers for the new academic year.

The students, some 300 of whom had graduated from junior high schools in East Jakarta with the rest being from South Jakarta, all received grades below the minimum requirements.

But enrolling in a private school was not an option either as their parents could not afford to pay the high fees.

The head of the Jakarta office of the Ministry of National Education Alwi Nurdin said on Monday that his office, along with mayoralty education offices, had agreed to place the students in a number of public senior high schools.

"The schools are located in the same mayoralties as their former junior high schools," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Monday.

The placements, however, would still be based on the schools' minimum grade requirements.

"A student's grade will have to be close to the school's passing grades," he added.

As a consequence of the additional enrollments, he said, the schools involved would have to increase their capacities.

"There will be more students in a classroom," Alwi said.

The capital has 115 state-run senior high schools with various grade requirements.

Last year, the minimum grade to enter high school was 29 out of six subjects, or an average of 4.8 (out of a total score of 10) in every subject.

Studying in public schools is apparently the only choice for the students and their parents as enrollment fees and monthly tuition fees are lower than in private schools.

The enrollment fee for private high schools is around Rp 3 million (US$272.7) and the monthly tuition fee is around Rp 150,000. On top of that, they also charge a registration fee to confirm a student's enrollment.

Meanwhile, the enrollment fee for a public high school is around Rp 1.6 million with the monthly tuition fee being less than Rp 50,000. Unlike private schools, they are not allowed to charge additional fees. (hdn)