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.