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