Profit-oriented 'yayasan'?

My daughter has attended an international school since 2000, and is now due to enter primary school.

While I am satisfied with my daughter's progress to date, and have no objections to the costs incurred, I have a very serious problem with the school's demand that we pay seven years' fees in advance.

I have been told this is intended to ensure that we make a commitment to the school and to my child's education. I can understand that, but I also want the school to make a commitment. Accordingly, I wrote to the Principal on Jan. 30 this year pointing out that it is unacceptable that in the event that my child leaves school for whatever reason before that seven-year period has expired, there will be no pro rata refund.

Given the current unsettled environment and restlessness in the country, and the fact that we do not know whether the economy, and therefore business, will prosper, there can be no guarantee that any expatriate would stay here for a full seven years.

Accordingly, I requested the school, as a matter of some urgency, to consider two options.

* Option A: Pay every year in advance.

* Option B: Pay seven years in advance but with a signed document to state that in the event of an earlier withdrawal of my child from school, I will get a full refund of any unused full year's fees.

Finally, I received a reply dated March 11, which completely ignored my proposed options, saying that all parents had accepted the terms, and which promised vaguely to "review" the regulations.

This school is a Yayasan -- a non-profit foundation -- and the question I ask now, through your columns, is: Does the government know about these "windfall" profits gained by such schools?

Perhaps the tax authorities should be looking into its accounts?

MIKE POULOS, Jakarta