No bribery in PSKD

No bribery in PSKD

My attention was drawn, belatedly, to a letter written by Mr.
Dennis Vargas titled Begging PSKD Mandiri (The Jakarta Post,
April 14, 2001). Mr. Vargas' child was not immediately accepted
but was put on a waiting list instead. He implied that a suitable
bribe could have solved his problem. Rather than being offended,
I was extremely pleased by his letter: if people are now willing
to bribe our school officials to get a child enrolled then we
must be doing right at our Mandiri school.

In the last two years our school has become popular since it
is, in the words of Mr. Vargas, "a national-plus school with good
teaching quality and reasonable fees". In addition, its location
on Jl. Sam Ratulangi makes it easily reachable from many points,
in consequence, a waiting list for new enrollments became
unavoidable.

Unfortunately, many parents on the acceptance list wait until
the very last minute to make up their mind so that those further
down on the list are facing a rather frustrating and annoying
waiting period. Recognizing this problem we are making extra
efforts to improve the system.

Pleasing as it is to our ego that Mr. Vargas implied that we
have so many applicants that a bribe is needed, his insinuation
is far off the mark. Our school association -- Perkumpulan
Sekolah Kristen Djakarta (PSKD), i.e. the Djakarta Christian
School Association -- runs 22 schools, two campgrounds and a
health clinic. It is our way of demonstrating Christian
principles in the education world by establishing affordable and
quality schools for the inhabitants of Jakarta and its
surroundings without any regard to economic, social, racial or
religious origins.

The PSKD runs "elite" schools such as the Mandiri schools or
SMA III PSKD on Jl. Kwini, and also runs schools in the
economically challenged areas of Jakarta. In the PSKD vocational
school in North Jakarta every single student is subsidized by
about Rp 150,000 a month. We try to provide a PSKD school for any
family budget. In existence since 1942 and under different names
since the late 19th century, the PSKD has become a Jakarta
institution. Nowadays nobody pays much attention or even knows
that it is a Christian school. To many Jakartans, PSKD is no
longer an acronym but just one word. Such public acceptance would
not be possible if we played bribery games as Mr. Vargas implied.

And the banner in front of the school that he labels as false
advertising? Oh, don't read too much into it. It is just one of
those Jakarta school traditions: at the beginning of the year you
put up a huge banner to cheer up the front yard and also to show
off -- the bigger and more eye-catching, the better.

TOENGGOEL P. SIAGIAN

Secretary of the Board

and Executive Director

PSKD, Jakarta