Lab School holds its annual int'l festival
Lab School holds its annual int'l festival
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of students from Jakarta's
international schools celebrated yesterday in festivities at the
Lab School in East Jakarta.
The annual event was held by the private-run School owned by
the Jakarta Teachers Training and Education Institute in the
Rawamangun subdistrict, Pulogadung.
The students enjoyed participating in dances, songs and
costume shows.
The celebration has been a regular extracurricular activity of
the Lab School International Students Association (LISA) for
eight years.
A stage was built in the schoolyard, decorated with flags from
32 countries and flanked by two ondel-ondel (traditional Betawi
giant puppets usually used in street parades).
The gathering, labeled "Love, Peace and World Harmony",
featured a Korean fan dance, a Pakistani stick dance and star
dance, and Indian songs.
Most participants were students from international schools in
Jakarta, like the Pakistan International School, the Ghandi
Memorial International School, and Jakarta International School.
Many parents also came.
Foreign students studying at local schools arranged by the
Indonesian Foundation for Intercultural Learning contributed
songs.
"Such activities enable students of diverse cultural
backgrounds to know each other," said Indonesian ambassador-at-
large, Nana Sutrisna, who opened the festivities.
Among the spectators were Palestinian envoy Rihbi Awad and
Papua New Guinea envoy Paul Dala.
Lab School principal Arief Rachman said the activities would
help foster a tolerant attitude to cultural differences among
students.
"LISA's activities are meant to give the students a broader
horizon by knowing other countries' cultures and their problems
in the international milieu," Arief said.
Japanese Yuzo Komidori, 17, who is a second grader at a state-
owned senior high school, said he enjoyed singing popular dangdut
songs.
"I'm having a lot of fun," Komidori said.
The costume show featured couples wearing traditional clothing
from Saudi Arabia, Japan, Pakistan, India, China, Korea and
Indonesia.
The Lab School was set up in 1968 to experiment in new
education methods encouraging comparatively more interaction
between students and teachers than conventional schools.
Arief said the school aimed to create a balanced education
program, "to form good character and personality for Indonesian
students." (07)