Govt's plan to appoint top-grade school opposed

Govt's plan to appoint top-grade school opposed

JAKARTA (JP): More concerns arose yesterday that the plan to
assign six schools for top students in the Jakarta area will fail
to address the educational system's real problems and lead to
schools the become playgrounds for the children of the rich and
powerful.

Tunggul Siagian, the chairman of the Jakarta Chapter of
Privately Organized Education (Majelis Pendidikan Swasta-DKI),
told a hearing of City Council Commission E on education that
more than one "magnet" school for top students would be a waste
of resources, since not many Jakarta-area youngsters are doing
well enough to justify attending a special school.

The government's plan had already drawn strong opposition from
city councilors, whose charges Tunggul echoed.

"Grading a school as top should mean that all students who go
to the school have top grades, but in fact, it is so? Tunggul
said.

He argued that last year, the average mark in mathematics on
the Ebtanas state examination in the city was 3.1 on a scale of
10. Tunggul said very few students managed a six.

"If we categorize those who get a 6 as top-grade students and
gather them in just one school, I am afraid there would still be
many empty seats," Tunggul said.

Tunggul was also concerned that the appointed schools would be
seen as elite schools for the rich and become inaccessible to the
poor.

He speculated that the prestige associated with the designated
schools "could induce some high-ranking government officials to
give `references' (katabeletje) to the principals of the schools
to accept their children, irrespective of the children's
ability," Tunggul said, adding that Indonesians are usually
afraid to refuse such "references".

This will reduce the quality of those to-be-appointed schools
because entrance will not be base on ability alone, Tunggul said.

"And once a school is appointed top-grade, can it manage not
to turn into an elite school? Can, for instance, sons of a
pedicab driver enter the school? " Tunggul said.

Tunggul said that in the former times, sons of pedicab drivers
went to the same schools as sons of high-ranking government
officials. "Now such an occurrence is completely impossible," he
added.

Objections

Although he is chairman of the Board for Privately-Organized
Education, Tunggul said he has no objections if the government
does not put privately-run senior high schools, some widely
recognized as top schools, into its categories.

"What for? People already know they are top schools. Their
ranks as top schools are clearly known in the community," Tunggul
said.

The six schools, which the government plans to appoint as top-
grade schools as next July, are Senior High School Number Eight
(SMA 8) as the top grade senior high school for the entire
Jakarta area, SMA 68 for Central Jakarta, SMA 13 for North
Jakarta, SMA 78 for West Jakarta, SMA 70 for South Jakarta and
SMA 81 for East Jakarta.

Last week, Tating Karnadinata, the head of the Jakarta Office
of the Ministry of Education and Culture, told the council's
commission that his office had drawn up a list of schools to be
appointed as the city's best. (06)