Jaya Group joins trend in elite school project

Jaya Group joins trend in elite school project

By Hyginus Hardoyo

JAKARTA (JP): The Jaya Group, one of Indonesia's largest
business entities, is joining the trend among large-scale
business groups to develop elite schools to meet the steadily
rising demand for quality education.

The Lippo Group has established an elite private school,
Sekolah Pelita Harapan, in Karawaci, Tangerang, and the Al Azhar
elite boarding school in Bekasi. The Argo Manunggal Group has
built another elite school, St. Laurensia, in Serpong, Tangerang.
And now the Jaya Group has set up its own quality school, Jaya
Global School, in Bintaro, Tangerang.

The Lippo Group, Argo Manunggal Group and Jaya Group are,
respectively, owned by Mochtar Riady, The Ning King and Ciputra,
some of Indonesia's most noted business tycoons.

Ciputra said at the launching of the Jaya Global School in the
middle of last month that its establishment constitutes Jaya
Group's commitment to fulfilling parents' wishes for the best
education of international standards for their children.

"The main objective of entering the education field is to make
one of the best schools in the country, both in terms of quality
and facilities," he said.

The four schools are built in very modern surroundings with
Pelita Harapan in the huge, sprawling Lippo Karawaci project, the
Al Azhar Boarding School in the huge Lippo City Complex, St.
Laurensia in the Alam Sutera housing complex and Jaya Global
School in the Bintaro Jaya housing complex.

Pelita Harapan and Al Azhar Boarding School place focus on
academic and sports excellence and on a combination of modern
general education with strict Moslem discipline. St. Laurensia
emphasizes academic achievement, sports, extracurricular
enhancement of horizons and moral qualities based on Catholic
values. And Jaya Global School emphasizes quality academic
education based on a combination of domestic and international
curricula.

These elite schools accept students of various levels, ranging
from kindergarten to high school, except the Al Azhar Boarding
School, which specializes in high school students.

These schools are mostly equipped with sophisticated
facilities, ranging from air conditioned classrooms, modern
libraries with books in Indonesian and English, CD Roms and
computerized catalogs, to sports facilities for basketball,
volleyball, tennis, badminton and football, as well as swimming
pools.

Sunaryo, the headmaster of Jaya Global School, told The
Jakarta Post that in the first stage his school's kindergarten
and primary school will open next month, while the junior and
senior high school will open in July, next year.

Jaya Global is located on Jl. Raya Jombang in the Bintaro Jaya
Sector IX housing complex in Tangerang, adjacent to the Japanese
International School, which is currently under construction, and
the British International School.

"Starting from kindergarten, the teaching methods applied at
the school will involve students actively in the learning process
through the use of both the Indonesian and English languages," he
said.

Sunaryo explained that the response from the public to the
establishment of the school is very good, as is reflected by the
fact that many parents have been asking for information about the
school.

The school had registered 100 students as of June 9, he said.
The admission fee is Rp 20 million (about US$9,090), and the
monthly tuition fee is Rp 450,000 for the pre-school level, Rp
650,000 for kindergarten and Rp 750,000 for elementary school.

By comparison the admission fee at Al Azhar Boarding School is
Rp 20 million, with a monthly tuition fee and lodging costs
totaling Rp 850,000.

Many students registering at the Jaya Global School come from
families of mixed parentage, Sunaryo said.

Stuart Weston, education consultant for the school, said that
its professional teaching staff from Indonesia and from English
speaking countries will guide the students to become more
creative and independent.

"Each class, which will consist of 24 students at the maximum,
will also have an assistant teacher to help develop the students'
talent and monitor their development," he said.

The teaching methods, which use two-way communication, are
designed to make the students more active and confident. Many of
the local teachers have a good command of English and have had
experience in international schools, both Sunaryo and Weston
said.

Sunaryo said that the Jaya Global School will teach the
national curriculum using modern teaching methods, which are
designed to stimulate students to be more creative and to enable
them to express their own thoughts and opinions in speech and
writing.

"The children will be helped to understand theory through
practical work, including observation and experiment both inside
and outside the class. As a result they are expected to learn by
direct experience, or learning by doing, not merely rote
learning," he said.