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)