Students find learning made fun at international schools

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Besides the predominant Caucasian, Indian and non-Indonesian Asian students, there are also a number of Indonesian students to be found in the classrooms of the British International School (BIS) in Bintaro, Tangerang.

"I sent Samantha here as I want her to enjoy school," said Connie Bakrie on Saturday. Previously, said the 39-year-old mother, Samantha went to an Indonesian school but was so overburdened with material that she started cutting classes.

The difference lies in the teaching methods provided in international schools. "The students here are more involved in the learning process," she said.

The mother of two was visiting the BIS on Saturday to participate firsthand in its "Curriculum Day", which was held by the school to mark its 30th anniversary. During the day, the parents of the some 600 students attending the school were given the change to take part in classroom activities.

Vice Principal Frank Znideric said that the event was held to inform parents about what their children did in class, and to strengthen the partnership between parents and the school's management.

"As they (parents) can see, the learning process is really fun these days, much different from what it was in their time," said Znideric.

Bakrie said that she understood now why her daughter, who is in year three, is always eager to go to school. "Even when she's sick, she still wants to go," said Bakrie.

Jakarta has seen an increasing trend in the number of parents sending their children to international or national-plus schools, which have sprung up in many big cities here, where students are taught through the medium of English.

A student must pay between US$10,000 and $15,000 in tuition fees per academic year in the BIS, dozens of times more expensive than the fees charged by Indonesian schools. Nevertheless, some 20 percent of the students in international schools are Indonesian.

"The curriculum used in Indonesian schools aims too high," said Bakrie. "Teachers force students to finish the curriculum, just for the sake of finishing it.

"Here, teachers monitor the development of the student."

Jakarta plans to apply a competence-based curriculum starting in academic year 2004/2005. However, Bakrie was skeptical about the outcome, saying that most teachers here were ill-prepared to implement such a curriculum.

It is not surprising, then, that well-off parents are opting for international schools. "We are seeing a steady increase of between 5 percent and 6 percent per year in the number of our students," said Znideric. There was a dip following the Bali bombing, but the situation had returned to normal, he added.