International schools in Jakarta an attractive option for locals

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.