9-day school holiday during MPR sessions
JAKARTA (JP): The city office of the Ministry of Education and Culture has granted private and public, elementary, junior and senior high school students a nine-day vacation, which coincides with the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Hadis Hadianegara, the office spokesman, told The Jakarta Post Wednesday that the holiday would comprise the mid-term holiday from March 2 to March 7 and a special break from March 9 to March 11.
The MPR General Session runs from March 1 to March 11.
According to the education calender, March 9 is supposed to be the day for picking up report cards. But due to the special holiday, reports will be handed out on March 12.
"The nine-day holiday is based on a revision of the education calender. We planned for it by taking into consideration the holiday for last year's 19th SEA Games."
He said the special holiday was also intended to ensure the success of the sessions.
The official holiday notification is stated in the office's letter No. 06/I0I.A1/LL/98.
In a related development, the office also issued another official letter, No.05/I01.A1/KU/98, stating the payment of February and March school fees would not be combined, but instead be paid as usual before the 10th of every month.
The notification was issued because some schools have forced parents to pay double the tuition due to the holiday, Hadis said.
"Asking for payment of fees a month ahead will certainly burden the parents. Therefore we have officially told the schools to stop that kind of action."
A parent, Anna Trihastuti, told the Post the school her nine- year-old daughter attended had asked parents to pay two months of tuition fees.
"Besides that, they also asked us to pay fees for BP3 (the education assistance board) a month in advance.
"This certainly is hard for us. We're not going to run away from our obligation ... so why do they speed up the schedule for the tuition payment only because the payment dates coincide with the holiday?"
Anna has to pay Rp 50,000 per month plus the Rp 12,500 BP3 fee for her daughter.
"Parents usually have a certain budget every month. If we have to pay double, it means finding extra money," she said.
When asked whether the vacation would disturb the students' class schedules, Hadis said his office had formally notified schools in Jakarta about the holiday and assured them that it should not necessarily disrupt learning activities.
"Most of the school activities have been rescheduled to anticipate any learning disruptions.
"Students are urged to spend their holiday in an internship program or sports activity."
Hadis admitted that his office was encountering difficulties in arranging the internship program as 60 private companies -- which were scheduled to accept the students -- eventually backed out of the program due to the monetary crisis.
"All of the companies said there was not enough in their budget to set aside money for the program. As you know, the companies usually paid some kind of fees for the students."
He said the office was still looking for interested companies to hire the pupils during the holiday.
"I understand that now is a difficult time. But we have to keep looking for outlets for our children's activities. We don't want them to end up doing outrageous things, especially during such a critical time as the General Session."
An alternative for students is to participate in sport or art activities, he said.
"But it is also has to be done by the book. No mass gatherings, which have the potential to create social unrest, would be allowed in this condition." (edt)