International schools in Jakarta an attractive option for locals

Simon Marcus Gower, Jakarta

Jakarta, like many a world city, is a city of considerable development. Many parts of the city, as they are today, would hardly be recognizable in comparison to what they were some twenty or even just ten or five years ago. There are perhaps too many shopping mall developments but these can perhaps be seen as increasing the sophistication and cosmopolitan nature of the city.

But it is in the nature of major cities to change and improve and this is true also for the development of educational institutes and facilities in the city. Many commentators and observers would recognize that Jakarta has been and still is in great need of "educational development", but there have been developments that have improved this situation.

Indeed parents in Jakarta are now able to reflect upon and capitalize on the availability of better alternatives for their children. One parent recently discussed how his sons now have educational opportunities that were simply not there when he was growing up. Having worked hard in school and been fortunate enough to earn a scholarship overseas this parent had experienced first-hand the difference between "traditional and directive Indonesian education" and a more open and "stimulating education, based on a Western model."

For him it was and is a great relief that he can now send his children to a school in Jakarta that more closely matches his later educational experiences and his own hopes and aspirations for the education of his children. So, in what form does this "different model" for education come in within Jakarta?

There are effectively two significant sectors of schools and schooling that have emerged relatively recently that provide these alternative models of education for Indonesian people. At perhaps the highest level are the numerous international schools that are now situated all over Jakarta.

Previously and historically these schools would have been outside of the consideration of Indonesian parents as they were predicated on the notion of serving the international/expatriate community alone. But now these schools are available to Indonesian parents too. They offer the kinds of educational standards that would be met within their countries of origin but in addition they assimilate aspects of the local context and culture and this clearly provides them with a colorful mixture to their school life.

Many of these schools are using English as their language of instruction but other foreign languages are also available. Noticeably, recently, more and more schools are recognizing the value and importance of Mandarin Chinese within their curricula and this has been true for the other sector of relatively recent development in schools and schooling -- namely the sector known as "national plus" schools.

So in addition to the international schools there is the further sector of schools -- national plus schools -- which has also been growing at a very significant rate. Similar to international schools, these schools tend to target the teaching of the majority of the subjects in English. Often a kind of mixed curriculum is adopted that utilizes overseas sources for curricula and combines them with Indonesia aspects and content.

Both of these sectors are consistently more expensive options for schooling and regrettably this may mean that for the majority of Indonesians they are an option which remains beyond their reach unless there are sufficient scholarship programs being offered.

Such scholarships do happen and it can be a great joy and even honor to see underprivileged children get opportunities in schools that would otherwise not be available to them. Also, it should be noted that, such "scholarship kids" are consistently highly diligent and capable and so in some sense they "pay back" the faith that has been placed in them with excellent effort and results. This too can be a motivator to other students.

But even if these schools are often beyond the reach of "ordinary Indonesians", there is another positive benefit that can emerge from their presence here. This we could perhaps describe as a "trickle down" effect.

Perhaps this point is not yet entirely clear, so an example may help to clarify. One Indonesian educator spent a number of years employed in a national plus school in Jakarta. As is quite natural he maintained links with his home town, still having friends and family back there. Also, he retained contacts with former colleagues and schools in his home town.

Anytime he had sufficient time and money to return home he would, again naturally enough, carrying with him the new ideas, methods, teaching strategies and even materials that he was receiving in his working life in Jakarta. Now this is not to say that he was plagiarizing from his place of employment but rather that he was sharing ideas and concepts that could help his friends and schools back home.

After so many years working, earning and learning in Jakarta he was able to return to his hometown, in an otherwise really rather disadvantaged province of Indonesia and genuinely help in the development of education there; gaining as he did a position of responsibility and respect within the educational context there.

In this way it can be seen that the presence of a more "international" model of education within Indonesia, is having a "trickle down" or perhaps knock-on domino effect.

The chances that teachers get to learn and develop in such schools are considerable and almost inevitably they will and do share their learning and development with others. There is a real sense in which a model of "on-the-job training" is happening here and this is both reasonable and appropriate.

It is reasonable and appropriate that teachers be learners; then and perhaps only then are they really teachers. Developing and progressive schools clearly set up opportunities for teachers to learn and advance learning and education in Indonesia. It is to be hoped that this learning and development can become even more widespread.

The writer is an education consultant.