Study courses vie to attract students

Study courses vie to attract students

By Achmad Junaidi

JAKARTA (JP): Worried students do their utmost to prepare
ahead of the state university entrance examination, an event
which is crucial in deciding their futures.

One favorite method is to sign up for after-school study
courses to cram information and review texts before the exam.

Administrators step up the volume of their advertisements in
the weeks preceding the exam. Some institutes are old hands in
the business but many are newcomers. Only a few courses attract
enough students to survive for more than a couple of year.

Most boast almost identical facilities of air-conditioned
rooms, qualified teachers and discounted fees in their bids to
enroll students.

Others provide additional amenities. The Jakarta-based Santa
Lusia study course has a dormitory for students from outside
Jakarta who are studying at its six city branches.

Lusia Sutanto, who has headed the Santa Lusia course
organization since the 1970s, said her study course provides
about 50 full-time teachers who are graduates of state
universities.

Lusia graduated from the School of Chemistry of Gadjah Mada
University in Yogyakarta.

Another course in Jakarta, KSM, also uses teachers graduated
from state universities as a draw. KSM's president director,
Maringan Manurung, said the teachers were hired because students
are seeking entry into state universities and they are most
familiar with the system. In addition, he also hires part-time
teachers from state high schools.

Maringan, who established the course in 1979 in the Cikini
area of Central Jakarta, said managing a study consultation
institute was identical to managing a company. "We must give full
attention to the company. We can't be a part-timer."

Maringan, a graduate of the University of Indonesia's School
of Public Administration, said unprofessional management was the
reason many courses went bankrupt.

Lusia disagreed and said running a study course institute was
fundamentally different from managing a business.

"It's not a totally profit-oriented enterprise. It's a social
education institute," said the mother of three children.

Lusia said she often waives fees for students who have
difficulty in making payments.

She said she always meets with parents before deciding on the
appropriate fees for their children. A student pays between Rp
50,000 (US$20) and Rp 75,000 a month.

KSM now has seven branches in the city, two in Bogor, and one
each in Bandung, West Java, and Pontianak, West Kalimantan. He
said he gives discounts for students who will join the "super
extensive". A student pays Rp 200,000 for the two-month-long
program. They learn four hours a day in class.

Students who do not pass the entrance selection for state
universities are allowed to join the KSM course for free the
following year.

Both Lusia and Maringan agreed that a gap between the level of
difficulty of schoolwork and the examination was the reason
students join their courses.

"Only those who make a thorough preparation for the entrance
test will be accepted in the state universities," said Maringan.

There is still no guarantee that taking the courses will gain
a student the desired placement in a state university.

"I tell my students that they should first work hard to win a
place," Lusia said.

Students keep on signing up for the courses despite the slim
chance of success. Maringan's course had 2,000 students enrolled
last year.