Is good education for the rich only?

The number of private schools which are several times more expensive than public schools are on the rise. Even these days, in the midst of the country's gloom, private schools evidently remain popular. The Jakarta Post's Ida Indawati Khouw, Maria Endah Hulupi, and contributors I. Christianto and Prapti Widinugraheni look into the issue. This report has been prepared in conjunction with the National Education Day that falls on May 2.

JAKARTA (JP): For the well-to-do family, no sum is too much for a precious child's education and it has nothing to do with conceit.

So between February and June every year, parents cannot avoid the routine headache: finding new schools for their children which are "good" but affordable. Even the students who have just been promoted to the next grade have to be re-registered -- and this means a lot of money has to change hands.

A parent registering her son at a private elementary school at the upscale residential area of Puri Kembangan, West Jakarta, reported that places were "auctioned off" at between Rp 3 million and 12 million.

"This means that if you can afford Rp 12 million your child's admittance is assured. If you haggle for around Rp 3 million, your child would be put on the 'waiting list' although your child already spent two years in the very same school," said the parent.

Some private schools reportedly charge much more than that, like Pelita Harapan in Karawaci, Tangerang, reportedly one of the most expensive schools in Jakarta, which refused to disclose its fees to the press.

Interestingly, parents' interest in sending their children to expensive schools is very high. New ones are being built and school parking areas are full of flashy cars.

Sending your child to an expensive private school is a status symbol of the wealthy.

Muchtar Buchori, an education expert and former rector of Jakarta Muhammadiyah University, has a theory on the phenomena.

"The growing number of expensive schools shows that people are tired of mediocre education. Parents now want their children to become high achievers. Successful schools or elite schools are those that can bring students out of mediocrity," he says.

The main characteristics of elite schools are emphasis on hard work and a balanced educational program.

"This means a balance between physical and mental exercises, between physical sciences and social and human sciences, and between knowledge about the present and the past. What happens in our public schools is usually a reduction of all or some of these characteristics," he says.

Genuinely good

The incredibly expensive school fees have given rise to fears of "commercialization" of education. Schools are deemed profit seeking and forget their noble mission.

Buchori agrees that while some expensive schools may be genuinely good, others are simply commercial.

"Commercialization means that money collected from students is not used to improve education services, infrastructure or teachers' welfare, but is used entirely to enrich the school organizers. Commercialization may also happen when policies are determined solely by the school's foundation," he says.

In their defense, exclusive private schools argue that "good education needs a lot of money", as Hannah Achmadi, public relations officer of Sekolah Pelita Harapan says.

Money going into Pelita Harapan's coffers, she says, is used for facilities and activities such as string orchestras, ballet dancing, choir groups, traditional angklung, kolintang (bamboo percussion instrument) and gamelan musical groups, sports gymnasiums, Olympic-size swimming pools and equestrian activities. The school also has a health center and a bookstore.

Apart from conducting activities at its own branches, Pelita Harapan also provides financial and managerial support to small schools in remote areas including Bengkulu, Lampung and Central Java.

"In the second and third year at the senior secondary school, Pelita Harapan offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which provides students a bigger chance of being accepted at universities worldwide," she says.

Nasroul Hamzah of the Al-Azhar Islamic Education Foundation in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, fiercely rejects the "school commercialization" allegation.

"If a school is applying high tuition fees, there must be good reason for it. Most likely the schools are improving their quality or developing additional facilities for the students," he says.

Henny Supolo Sitepu, a teacher at Al Izhar in South Jakarta, where entrance fees average Rp 7.5 million and monthly tuition Rp 200,000 offers an interesting explanation.

A big proportion of school funds go to teacher development programs which include sending teachers abroad to gain experience and follow developments in education at the international level.

"We believe that the quality of the school is determined very much by the quality of the teachers," Henny says. Therefore much emphasis is put on teachers' welfare, which includes providing them with a housing complex, complete with transport facilities and a childcare center.

"I totally disagree with the view that quality schools are provided merely for the rich ... It's like saying that exclusive schools are always good while others are not. Quality is determined by the teacher, and the quality of a teacher is not determined by the luxury or facilities of the schools," she says.

Parents

Parents have their own reasons why they are willing to spend a lot of money to send their children to expensive schools. They have one thing in common, though -- that the good private schools have the best teachers and best facilities.

Well-known private schools compete to lure prospective students with modern facilities, such as laboratories and extra- curricular activities that few public schools have.

Many parents cite security reasons for choosing a private school. Others cite religious reasons. For example, religious lessons at Islamic schools are considered better than that of public schools. Some public schools do not offer religious classes for Christian students on the grounds that they do not have a teacher and students get their grades from the Sunday school.

Housewife Debora, whose 4-year old son, Azarya, goes to a Montessori kindergarten in Bekasi (40 km east of Jakarta), says: "Indeed I feel my son's school fees are expensive. I paid a Rp 2.5 million entrance fee and continue to pay Rp 250,000 in monthly fees ... but so far, I have no regrets."

She says the kindergarten has a "good education system" where students are not taught to read and write, but learn practical skills like sewing on buttons, washing dishes after meals and playing with educational toys. The school also uses English as the medium.

The steep cost of private schools combined with tough competition to enter them and the determination of parents to see their children get "good quality education" no doubt calls for sound education planning.

Kusdiati Norman Indrajid, a housewife living in West Jakarta, has already enrolled one of her daughters into SLTP Iman Pengharapan Kasih (IPK), a junior secondary school in the Greenville housing complex, West Jakarta, although the daughter is still in the sixth grade of elementary school.

"I have already paid Rp 6.5 million as an entrance fee and Rp 290,000 in tuition fees," Kusdiati says, adding that the early enrollment was "just to make sure my daughter enters a good school".

In times when the per capita income is less than $700 and poverty remains a major problem in the country, the fear that good education is moving out of the poor majority's reach is well-founded.