Special school helps children overcome learning difficulties

JAKARTA (JP): Ronny is a smart, healthy and energetic boy, but he never sits still. He is always getting into trouble for being disruptive in class.

But his teachers have found more serious problems as the boy is still unable to write legibly despite trying extremely hard.

The 10-year-old Ronny, now in the fourth grade, is making little progress in school despite having an IQ level of 140 (the normal range is between 90 and 110).

Amanda, aged eight, is described by her parents and teachers as a bright girl. Her intelligence is above average but her reading ability is that of a six year old. Neither her parents, teachers nor a psychologist have been able to find any reason why she should find reading so difficult.

Amanda's parents are puzzled and concerned because her teachers have given up hope, meaning she will have to move school.

Psychologists and medical experts describe students like Ronny and Amanda as intelligent children who have significant but unexplained difficulties in learning.

There are hundreds or even thousands of students like them who suffer from specific learning difficulties (LDs) in one or more areas of learning such as reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic and language as well as motor coordination. All are basic skills which are vital for a child's success at school.

Data from the Ministry of Education and Culture shows that about two million children fail and drop out of school every year. The data also shows that 40 percent of the students failed because they have learning difficulties and 25.4 percent of them have an above-average IQ.

There are clear indications that this group of pupils has always been ignored or overlooked by the national education system. Such students have been found in almost every classroom since the early l970s, but only a very few ever received professional help.

Because of inappropriate academic and emotional handling, these students are easily labeled by teachers, parents and society as naughty and unintelligent or simply lazy. Experts, however, do not agree with this stereotyped judgment.

Dr. Atie W. Sukandar, together with a number of prominent figures such as Karlina Umar Wirahadikusumah -- the wife of former vice president Umar Wirahadikusumah -- and noted fashion designer Harry Darsono, made a breakthrough by opening the Pantara elementary school in South Jakarta in August l997.

It is mainly aimed at students with LDs, including those suffering from dyslexia, discalculia, disgraphia, disphasia and attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity.

"Our main objective is to change people's attitude toward these children. It is important for people -- teachers, parents and the public, to understand that children with LDs are capable and talented in many ways," said Atik, the chairwoman of the Pantara Foundation.

Those children deserve a formal education and a proper place in society, added Atik during a recent meeting of Pantara's parents group. Unfortunately, most schools' academic programs are not designed to accommodate children with LDs.

"To further complicate the problem, educators and facilities needed to help such children are still lacking. This is mainly due to people's poor understanding of the issue," she added.

In the standard schooling system, these children are often unable to perform to their best. Ironically, the kids that fail behaviorally and academically in the mainstream schools have very high IQ levels. This, she said, further emphasized the need for an adaptive schooling system.

"These students need different styles of learning which combine flexible teaching methods, smaller class size, warm learning atmosphere, and qualified and cooperative teachers, things that are rarely available in ordinary schools," she noted.

Pantara Elementary School currently has classes for four age groups, ranging from first to sixth grade, each with 33 students. Each class is limited to only seven students with two to three teachers per class.

Pantara adopts the l994 national curriculum, dubbed by many educators as being too rigid and burdensome for normal students, let alone for those suffering from LDs.

Ida Farida, the school's principal, however, argues that the curriculum has been modified enough to meet the needs of each child. The school readjusts its programs to set more realistic goals that the students can fulfill.

"We are still in the nursery stage and we need a lot of improvements in our teaching methods," Ida admitted.

Despite its shortcomings, the school management was encouraged to see the results of the l997/l998 academic year, which showed that most of Pantara's students were able to follow all the school subjects in accordance with the national curriculum.

The establishment of this special school has provided indicators that pupils with learning difficulties are able to study the mainstream curriculum.

Atik said the school planned to implement many programs in the near future, such as adding physical education facilities and expanding other facilities, training teachers and joint programs with other related education institutions both in Indonesia and abroad.

A student has to pay Rp 150,000/month, excluding the fee for extra curricular activities and necessary therapy.

However, the school is facing serious financial problems in carrying out all the planned programs. Running a special school such as Pantara requires considerable sums of money, not only to provide supporting facilities but also for a permanent school building.

At present, the school rents part of a teacher training college building on Jl. Akhmad Dahlan, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

Unless support from related institutions, both private and government becomes available soon, the chance for children with learning problems to gain access to a good education will slim significantly slim and they might well join the country's mounting number of school dropouts. (raw)