Not all students overjoyed about their long vacations

Not all students overjoyed about their long vacations

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

All students love the school holidays as they can put their books
away, and forget about homework and exhausting tests.

The long annual holidays have started and students will be
free for around a month until the middle of next July. But
interestingly, not all students like their new-found freedom.

Kevin, a second grader in a private senior high school in
Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, did not seem to be overjoyed by
the prospect of the long, free days.

"Holidays are only good for the first couple of days. After
that, I'll be bored to death," he told The Jakarta Post over the
weekend. "I have no plans for spending my holidays. I'll probably
just stay at home. But I really don't know what to do."

Betta, a junior high school student, is luckier than Kevin.

"I'm going on a study-tour to Yogyakarta with my schoolmates
for a week," he remarked, adding that his school had arranged the
tour.

Betta, too, admitted that some of his friends were confused as
to how to spend the holidays.

"Of course they are. I'd be confused as well if I had nothing
to do. I'd be bored if I had nothing else to do but hang out with
my friends for weeks on end," he admitted, saying that he usually
went to a play-station rental kiosk with his friends when he had
to spend his holidays at home.

Another junior high school student, Terri, suggested that
students would be better off doing something useful during their
holidays.

"If my family hadn't arranged a tour for me, I would join a
short course," she said, adding that she is currently
participating in a two-week fashion course.

Terri usually chooses a course that she will enjoy. Last year,
she took a course on how to make handicrafts from paper and clay.

However, not all students can afford to spend their holidays
as Terri does. Terri's two-week fashion class costs Rp 750,000.
Last year, her parents had to pay Rp 500,000 for the paper and
clay class.

For common people, these are big sums of money.

"I wanted to join a certain course but my parents couldn't
afford it. So, I'll just spend my holidays at home like my other
friends do. Most of the time, we go to the malls for window
shopping," said Juwita, a third grader in a state junior high
school in Kalibata, South Jakarta.

Juwita and her friends usually visit a mall in Pondok Indah,
South Jakarta, and another one in Blok M. Both of the malls are
favorite hangouts for teenagers.

In a bid to address the problem, some schools here have
arranged study tours for their students. Some others provide
religion courses.

Several museums in the city have also arranged special
programs free of charge. The textile museum in Tanah Abang,
Central Jakarta, for example, offers a course for students who
want to learn how to make batik. The courses are free if the
students' schools arrange them with the museum management.