Head reveals secret of SMUN 8's success
By Budiman Moerdijat
JAKARTA (JP): SMUN 8 Principal Elida Agoes unveiled Saturday why her senior high school is a cut above other government-run schools in Jakarta.
The secret is a combination of longer study hours, relatively good facilities, maintaining contacts with its alumni and, above all, its ability to attract the best junior high school graduates in Jakarta.
SMUN 8, located in the Manggarai district of South Jakarta, has been given the title "Senior High School-Plus" by the Jakarta Administration, because of the consistently high percentage of its graduates that go on to prestigious state universities each year.
"This is a 'plus' not a 'superior' school," Elida said, correcting a public misperception that likens SMUN 8 to the privately run elite schools.
"A superior school must be superior in terms of its students, facilities, and teachers," she said.
"SMUN 8 has not reached that level. This is an ordinary state senior high school which has been appointed by the government to be a 'plus' school.
"The 'plus' title was really given for the quality of our students. Our facilities and teachers are more or less the same as other state schools," Elida said.
The title allows SMUN 8, unlike most other government-run senior high schools, to admit students from outside its designated territory in South Jakarta.
From this academic year, which began in July, up to 10 percent of the school's new intake could be from outside Jakarta.
This year, SMUN 8 admitted 327 new students, bringing the total to 1,218.
Elida admitted that students at her school spend more hours than those at many other schools.
Most students stay on until 3:20 p.m. for classes preparing them for national examinations.
SMUN 8 also runs additional programs in computing, foreign languages and accountancy.
"We have a cooperation program with Gunadarma University for the computer classes; there are 16 teaching staff from the university at SMUN 8," Elida said, adding: "The program is mandatory for the first and second year students."
The school offers language lessons in German, French, Arabic, and Japanese besides the mandatory English. "Students have shown enthusiasm in Japanese, while Arabic is the least popular."
Elida emphasized the importance of the alumni's role in enabling SMUN 8 to reach its present reputation.
The alumni formed an association in 1979 which runs tutorial classes every weekend to help students prepare for the entry tests to state universities.
The classes were prompted by concern over the fact that very few SMUN 8 students were securing places at state universities.
This has now changed.
The tutorial classes have more than proved their worth. This year, 207 of the 275 final-year students who took part in the classes were admitted to top state universities.
Students say they have no grudges about the longer hours.
"Although these are high-achieving students, they are just like any other teenagers," Windi Biotri, a second grader, said.
"Their only difference is in their intellectual capacity," Sari, another second grader, chimed in.
Their colleague Putri admitted that the pressure got to her in the beginning. "It seemed that my brain never stopped working. But after three months, I managed to adapt," she said.