Students turning to private tutors

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)