Cilegon gets international school

Cilegon gets international school

CILEGON, West Java (JP): The construction of an international
school for the children of expatriates working in the Cilegon
area began yesterday.

The Cilegon International School (CIS), the first of its kind
in the area, is expected to meet the demands of more than 700
expatriates working as experts in local industries such as
petrochemical factories and steel plants, most of whom have been
long separated from their children for lack of a good
international school.

"This school will provide them with high quality education,"
said Cosmas Batubara, chairman of Cilegon International School
Foundation.

The school's construction officially started when H.A.M.
Sampurna, Deputy Governor of West Java, pressed the button
sounding a siren and starting equipment in a ceremony attended by
local dignitaries.

Presently, children of expatriates who work here are either
attending private classes or studying at international schools in
Jakarta.

The lack of educational facilities for their children had
resulted in at least two expatriates quitting their jobs.

The US$500,000 school complex occupies a 1.1 hectare plot
within Bona City real estate, 120 kilometers west of Jakarta.
When finished, the school will accommodate 250 students between
the ages of three and 17.

The first phase, which will be completed by next September,
will only accommodate 50 students and will chair annual fees
ranging from $3,000 to $9,000.

Cosmas said the school curriculum will also include local
subjects, such as Bahasa Indonesia and playing the gamelan, a
traditional Javanese instrument.

He added that he will form another foundation to provide
vocational courses for local people, such as computer skills and
English, because one foundation is not allowed to arrange two
kinds of activities.

The ceremony was marked by a gamelan orchestra played by
children of the Lentera International School in Jakarta. (01)