The hunt for tutoring tickets: when parents sit the exam

Schools retain the primary responsibility for fulfilling every pupil’s essential learning needs.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Queuing from the early hours is not merely a story about a popular tutoring centre, or bimbel. It illustrates how hopes, anxieties, reputation, and unequal access converge in a single queue number.

The scene felt like the opening of concert ticket sales. People arrived while the sky was still dark, some even staying overnight, hoping the queue number in hand would become a path to a limited seat.

The difference is that what is being fought over is not a concert seat, but a tutoring quota for children. The phenomenon in the Gayam area of Gondokusuman, Yogyakarta, soon earned a very digital name: the ticket hunt.

The words ‘hunt’ or ‘scramble’ make the event sound trivial, almost comical. Yet behind it lies a serious issue. Hundreds of parents are collectively sending a message that they want their children to receive learning support that is considered effective, affordable, and proven.

Media reports said the provider besieged by parents in Yogyakarta limited participation to around 400 students, with small classes and relatively affordable fees. The combination of limited capacity, word-of-mouth reputation, and hopes of entering a school of choice created scarcity.

When scarcity meets anxiety, queuing becomes rational for each individual family, even if collectively it appears excessive.

The ticket scramble is an important signal, but it is not a verdict. It needs to be read alongside data, pupils’ experiences, and the quality of learning in schools.

Not a referendum