Elite private schools offer world-class education
JAKARTA (JP): Spending a huge sum of money may mean nothing for a number of well-off Indonesian parents who send their children to study abroad.
However, now that the new academic year draws near, the presence of national plus schools may make them think twice about sending their children abroad for schooling.
While international schools here mostly admit students from expatriate families, national plus schools offer alternatives for those who are looking for education excellence at home.
These elite private schools offer a revised curriculum, blending the best of the Indonesian national curriculum, and curricula from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Britain or the United States.
In a bid to meet international standards, English is adopted as the daily language during school hours.
Currently there are more than 100 schools in Indonesia offering high standard education as well as a promising future.
To name a few; Pelita Harapan School (SPH), Tiara Bangsa School (STB), Madania, Al Azhar, Global Jaya, Al Izhar Pondok Labu School (PIAIPL), military-styled Taruna Nusantara, Marsudirini, Pembangunan Jaya, St. Laurensia and PSKD Mandiri in and around Jakarta and Cita Hati Christian School in Surabaya are listed among the national plus schools.
"We believe that our children will receive the best from this school in return for the school fees we have spent. What does money mean, compared to brains and intelligence the school is offering," says a father who sends his sons to Pelita Harapan School in Karawaci, Tangerang.
He said he expected his children could easily adapt to overseas university if they continue study abroad.
Boasting international standards to produce bilingual and critical students -- which most local schools cannot afford to provide, the elite schools compete with each other in attracting students.
"We view education as a whole which is far from business- minded prejudice so that we are not worried about competition at all," Darrell Van Luchene, deputy headmaster of Pelita Harapan School said recently.
Similarly, technical advisor of Tiara Bangsa Barbara Nichols told The Jakarta Post in an interview that the school applies a mission in line with the United Nations Education and Culture Organization-sanctioned four principles: learning to think, learning to do, learning to be and learning to live together with others.
Like Pelita Harapan, Tunas Bangsa, which is located in Raflesia Hill real estate in Cibubur, East Jakarta, employs selected teachers from around the world to work together with their Indonesian counterparts in teaching their 250 students.
STB, which was established by businessman Mucki Tan in 1996, became the first school in Indonesia to deliver the International Baccalaureate (IBO) in English to its 200 students from kindergarten to grade 10.
IBO is a foundation in Switzerland that grew out of international efforts as early as 1924 to establish a common curriculum and university entry credentials for geographically mobile students.
SPH, established in 1993 has about 1,400 students from prekindergarten to senior high schools, who are scattered in four campuses across Greater Jakarta. It also provides programs for IBO diploma for its senior high school graduates who want to study abroad.
PIAIPL in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta offers an Islamic atmosphere for its students, apart from international-standard curriculum.
"Although we employ no expatriates and apply national curriculum, we use blended methods adopted from Japan and other countries," coordinator of PIAIPL academic advisor Henny Supolo Sitepu told the Post.
Situated on a spacious and green grounds, the school provides a vast range of facilities.
"I left the best state senior high school in Jakarta and choose this school because of its facilities. Teachers are only facilitators who help students develop their creativity," Lira, a grade two student at PIAIPL, said.
Fees at SPH ranges between US$1,500 and $7,000 with fixed rates per academic year for each student while Tiara Bangsa imposes between $1,050 and $5,500, including entrance fee. Fees at PIAIPL are much lower. Students pay monthly tuition which ranges from Rp 230,000 to Rp 250,000. The entrance fee is Rp 7,500,000 per student. (01)