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.