Mother's hope turns to dismay

Mother's hope turns to dismay

My younger daughter, now an elementary school first grader,
has been enrolled since kindergarten in the school run by the
Harapan Ibu (mothers' hope) educational foundation at Jl. H.
Banan No. 1, in the housing complex of the foreign ministry at
Ciputat Raya, Pondok Pinang, South Jakarta.

Compared with Al-Azhar, another Islamic school where we send
our elder daughter for her schooling, Harapan Ibu is closer to
our home. Besides, Harapan Ibu also charges lower entrance and
school fees.

However, now that our younger daughter is in her third year at
Harapan Ibu, we have become disappointed with the school because
it is not professionally managed and also always tries to collect
as much money as it can from the parents.

The declared lower entrance and school fees turned out to be
only a trick to attract new students. Every time a school report
is distributed, either the final or the preliminary assessment,
the school always requires parents to donate money for a variety
of purposes, such as the provision of a parking lot, the sale of
children's cassettes, the schedule for Islamic prayers and so
forth. Now that the school has been provided with a parking lot,
the parents are still required to pay parking fees.

As for the school building itself, it is not taken care of at
all. The pupils must also pay additional fees for Iqro (Koran
reading), which should be included in the school curriculum
because this is an Islamic school.

On the other hand, if we need something from the school, it
takes a very long time for the school to respond. Unless we
remind the school again and again, the school tends to simply
forget our request.

When my daughter first joined the A-level kindergarten, for
example, she did not get a cap because it was out of stock. Weeks
went by but there was still no hat for my daughter. A year later,
she came home weeping, saying that on the next Monday if she
failed to wear a cap to school she would be punished. Of course,
we were enraged to hear her report. Unfortunately, a similar
thing occurred when our daughter started elementary school. This
time it was about her uniform.

Now I have just received a circular from BP-3 Harapan Ibu
under No. 032/BP3/SDI-YHI/XI/99, asking the parents to give
donations for the Islamic post-fasting month festivities. Ours is
not a tight-fisted family which is reluctant to give donations.
However, in our opinion, students' parents are not responsible
for providing the teachers' bonus for the festivities. This is
absolutely the responsibility of the foundation.

RINI SUCAHYO

Jakarta