Students turning to private tutors
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
One result of the large number of students who failed this year's national final examinations has been a rush on institutions offering private tutorials, as parents try to secure any advantage that could help their children pass the exams.
"The number of students who have registered for our programs for the 2005-2006 term increased by 25 percent to 4,375 students from 3,500 in the 2004-2005 term," Kelompok Studi Mahasiswa (KSM) director Maringan Sitorus said on Thursday.
In the 2003-2004 term, 3,000 students, some from outside of Jakarta, registered with KSM.
Ganesha Operation, a Bandung-based outfit offering private tutorials, had 10,000 students registered at its 100 outlets nationwide during the 2004-2005 term. In Jakarta alone, the number of students was as high as 2,500.
"The number of students at our outlets across the country in the 2004-2005 term rose 15 percent to 10,000 students from 8,500 students in the 2003-2004 term," said Vicent Labora, a computer data processor at Ganesha Operation Jakarta.
Vincent was optimistic the number of students registering for the 2005-2006 term would grow by more than 15 percent considering the generally poor showing nationwide on the national exams.
He said he did not have exact figures for the number of students registering for the 2005-2006 term because the registration was still open.
According to Sitorus of KSM, the jump in enrollment was the result of worried students getting a jump on studying for next year's national exams.
However, Sitorus, as well as Santa Lusia director Lusia Soetanto and the academic manager of Sony Sugema College in Jakarta, Muja Astawa, said none of the students who failed this year's exams had enrolled to prepare for their makeup exams.
The government has scheduled makeup exams from Aug. 22 to Aug. 24.
"We have not had any students who failed this year's exam register with us and we did not open a special session for these students," said Muja.
KSM will start its 2005-2006 term on July 18 for the first class and July 25 for the second.
The programs preferred by students are the core subjects of mathematics, English, Indonesian and science, which appear on both national final exams and university entrance exams.
KSM charges from Rp 885,000 (US$91) to Rp 8,450,000 per course. Sony Sugema College charges from Rp 800,000 to Rp 1,575,000, depending on the number of students per class and length of the term.
Sitorus said high schools students who took the tutorials were not only preparing for next year's final exams but also for university admission tests.
Ganesha Operation will open its next term on July 18 at a cost between Rp 1.7 million and Rp 10 million per course, depending on the package offered. It also has a 20 percent money-back guarantee if students fail their university entrance exams.
The government announced on June 29 that 13.62 percent of junior high school students, 20.19 percent of high school students and 22.48 percent of vocational school students who took the national final exams failed. (004)