Choices galore in schools for Expat children

Choices galore in schools for Expat children

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, Contributor, Jakarta

International schools can be found almost everywhere these days.
The indisputable quality of their programs have lured not only
expatriate children, but locals as well. In this edition, the
Focus Issue covers five pages -- 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 -- and takes a
close look at the latest trends in schooling.

Naturally, many expatriates who are temporarily residing in
Indonesia for work or professional reasons want the best schools
for their children, whether preschools or high schools.

At present, there are more choices on hand with more and more
quality international schools having been established, several of
which are located outside the capital, such as in Bogor, Semarang
in Central Java, Surabaya in East Java, and of course in Bali.

The schools have been set up either by embassies or
independent educators in collaboration with private
entrepreneurs.

Lance N. Kelly, the principal of the Bogor Expatriate School
(BES), for instance, said that parents make the choice to live
outside of Jakarta and "realize that a quality international
education is available in Bogor".

Most international schools are known for the unquestionable
quality of their educational programs, despite the different
sizes and philosophies of the schools.

The size of the schools available varies from small ones like
the Bogor Expatriate School to large ones like the long-
established Jakarta International School (JIS) and the Gandhi
Memorial International School (GMIS).

Other well known international schools with students coming
from all different nationalities include the British
International School, the Australia International School, the
Singapore International School, Jayakarta Montessori, the
Semarang International School and the six-year old Sekolah Tiara
Bangsa.

There are also international schools that only accept students
of a particular nationality, like the French School, or l' Ecole
Internationale Francaise, the German School, or the Deutsch
Internationale Schule, the Netherlands School, or the Nederlandse
Internationale School, and the Japanese School.

Despite their being recognized as providing quality
educational programs backed by highly trained teachers, the
respective schools have their own unique and distinctive
characters and environments. Academically, the curriculums are
inseparable from the schools' missions, philosophies and
objectives.

As international schools, they use English as the language of
instruction, but several of the schools offer Indonesian programs
taught in Bahasa Indonesia.

The GMIS, with students from nearly 40 different countries,
for instance, follows the philosophy of tapping the creative
talents of the children.

"The mission of the school is based on Mahatma Gandhi's
philosophy, 'By education I mean the drawing out of the best in
mind, body and soul of a child and man,'" GMIS principal Ashok
Pal Singh said.

The school, which educates children from nursery school (three
years old) to an IB Diploma (18 years old), follows the
International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum from Switzerland.

"Students are prepared for an IB diploma in grades 11 and 12.
From nursery school to grade 8 we are in the process of
implementing the International Baccalaureate Primary Years
Program (PYP) and the Middle Years Program (MYP). While in grades
9 and 10, we have been very successfully implementing the
International General Certificate of Secondary Examination
(IGCSE) curriculum ('O' level) from the Cambridge University
Local Examination Syndicate, UK," Singh said.

Lance Kelly, the principal of BES, emphasize that the foremost
objective of the school is to develop in the children a love of
learning and a positive attitude toward the concept of the
"Lifelong Learner".

The British International School (BIS), established in 1973
and moved to its present spacious campus in 1994, follows the UK
National Curriculum for children aged 3 to 16, after which
children study the International Baccalaureate program.

"The curriculum is broad and balanced. Broad, so that it
provides opportunities for children to experience a wide range of
academic, sporting and cultural activities. Balanced, in that
each area of curriculum is given sufficient emphasis," said BIS
principal Peter Hoggins.

"The British International School considers that enabling
children to become critical thinkers, able to research, analyze
and articulate their views if of central importance," Hoggins
added.

Jakarta International School, which celebrates its 50th
anniversary next month, has also accepted Indonesians to study in
the school, which at present has 2,575 students from 64 different
countries and teachers come from 27 countries.

"Indonesian students are allowed to apply to JIS if they
possess a letter of dispensation from the ministry of national
education which is renewed annually, providing they meet the JIS
admissions criteria," said Jean K. Vahey, the school's deputy
head.

At JIS's elementary and middle school, the curriculum covers a
broad range of topics from mathematics, language arts, social
studies, science, health, Indonesian Studies, music, art,
physical education, and information science (including
technology).

"At the high school, we offer a variety of academic programs
that prepare students for university," said Vahey.

The Sekolah Tiara Bangsa (STB), set up in 1996, is an
independent fee-paying school officially licensed to operate as a
National Plus School with permission to introduce an
international curriculum. It currently has 203 students from
several countries, including Indonesia, Korea, the U.S., India,
Australia, Britain, Singapore, Sweden and the Philippines.

Elisabeth of the STB said the school emphasized the pursuit of
high academic attainment within an environment that challenged
students and staff to become vision-driven, life-long,
independent, motivated learners and enterprising and effective
leaders.

"This allows the school to add value to the national
curriculum through the inclusion of an internationally recognized
and highly regarded international curriculum with English as the
language of instruction," she said.

"Our educational programs and curricula are based on the
framework provided by the Primary Years Program of the
International Baccalaureate Organization," she added.

With the growing number of affluent people in Jakarta, there
has been an increase in the number of Indonesian parents
interested in sending their children to international schools.
The low quality of local schools is repeatedly cited as one of
the reasons for this. By entering international schools, local
students are expected to be able to face a more competitive and
challenging world in the future.

Several of the international schools have responded to the
growing demand from local parents. "We welcome enrollments from
Indonesian families, and hope that this number grows in the
future," BES principal Lance Kelly said, adding that Indonesian
students must obtain a letter of approval from the education
ministry before entering BES.

"If parents wish to enroll their children in grades 7 or 8,
the procedure is the same as for the rest of the school. We would
expect the family to produce evidence of academic progress from
the last school, and a letter of permission from the Indonesian
Ministry of Education," Kelly said

The British International School has over 800 students, with
the majority coming from the United Kingdom, Australia and New
Zealand, though there are students from over 40 different
countries at the school.

"The British International School has been able to enroll
Indonesian students, who now comprise 12 percent of the total
school population," principal Hoggins said.

Singh of the Gandhi Memorial International School (GMIS) said
that the Ministry of National Education of Indonesia had chosen
GMIS to run a pilot project for Indonesian students to study the
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

"With the new educational policy of allowing Indonesian
students to study in international schools, we now have about 14
percent Indonesian students, many of whom have returned from
Singapore, Australia, America, etc.," he said.

"We hope that with the new educational thinking and
liberalization like in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, more
Indonesians will be allowed to study in international schools,"
he added.

Each school has its own procedure for school enrollment, with
school fees varying from school to school. For instance, the BIS
charges US$12,350 per annum for secondary school (grades 7-13),
with an application fee of US$100 and a Capital Levy Certificate
(CLC) of US$10,000 (a four-year CLC).

The GMIS' admission fee for primary, middle school, secondary
school and junior college/IB is US$3,000, with a school fee of
US$1,740 per term, which runs six months.

The BES charges no enrollment fee. The tuition fee for grades
6 to 7 is US$7,700 per annum, with the Capital Levy of US$3,000
being charged on enrollment as a one-off payment. Annual tuition
fees for grades 1 to 10 are US$5,500 and Rp 19,500,000, with an
early-bird discount of 5 percent.