Free schools to be opened to support education

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta branch of the Ministry of Education and Culture will launch five new open junior high schools next month, the beginning of the 1995/1996 school year.

"Joining the open schools is free of charge," Subandio Djojosuwito, head of General Secondary Education, said yesterday.

Subandio said that the introduction of the open schools is intended mainly to enable students of poor families to get an education.

The targets for these schools are students who are forced to help their parents earn a living.

The introduction of the open schools was made in line with the result of a pilot project sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1979, to back up the government's policy of nine years compulsory education. Under the policy, all children between the ages of seven and 16 years must finish their studies in elementary and junior high school.

In Jakarta, the first open junior high school was introduced in 1991 at Senen in Central Jakarta, followed by a second in 1992 at Koja in North Jakarta. In 1993, two more open schools were launched, at Matraman in East Jakarta, and at Cengkareng in West Jakarta.

The five new open schools will be located in Penjaringan in West Jakarta, Tambora in West Jakarta, Kramat Jati in East Jakarta and Mampang Prapatan and Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta.

The open schools use the same curricula as that applied in regular schools. Students must meet twice a week with their teachers, who come from principal schools. Besides weekly meetings with their teachers, students have to study with their group under the guidance of a mentor. A study group consists of 10 to 20 students.

The Jakarta branch of the Ministry of Education and Culture has chosen nine state, junior high schools to oversee the open education activities. They are SMP 216 in Central Jakarta, SMP 45 and SMP 159 in West Jakarta, SMP 7 and SMP 20 in East Jakarta, SMP 30 and SMP 261 in North Jakarta, and SMP 48 and SMP 141 in South Jakarta.

All open schools in Jakarta have been open for the registration of new students. Beside receiving elementary school graduates, the schools also accept drop-out students. (29)