Top schools offer quality but expensive education

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Education is not cheap and a good education can be very expensive.

While millions of parents in the country struggle to come up with the money to enroll their children into any school, many parents are ready to pay top price to enroll their children in a top school that offers a superior education.

Public high school SMU Negeri 70, located in Bulungan, South Jakarta, is among the top high schools in the city.

For the 2005 school year, the high school, which calls itself "a national school with international standards", gave out more than 1,000 application forms for junior high school graduates interested in enrolling at the school. But only 400 places at the school will be available.

Vice Principal Tati Hayati said the school offered special programs to attract top junior high school graduates. The programs are "Accelerated Class" and "International Class".

These programs help prepare students to enter prestigious universities, including those abroad.

"In the Accelerated Class, students can complete their studies in only two years, compared to the normal three years. We started the program in 2001," Tati told The Jakarta Post.

"We offer the program to new students one month into the school year. Of course, they have to meet several requirements to join the program," Tati said.

Currently, the school has one class of 18 students in the Accelerated Program.

In the International Class, students are taught an "international" curriculum along with the national curriculum.

The program was launched three years ago in cooperation with Britain's Cambridge University.

"Aside from the subjects required by the national curriculum, the students in the International Curriculum study such sciences as mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics. In class, the students use English as a means of communication and we have hired lecturers from Al-Azhar University to teach the students," Tati said.

In the hope that someday its own teachers will be able to lead the students in the International Curriculum program, the school has introduced "an English day program" for teachers.

"Every Friday, we (the teachers) are obliged to practice English here," Tati, who also teaches Indonesian, said with a smile.

Once they graduate, students from the International Curriculum program can enter any of the 250 Cambridge-linked universities around the world, including in the United States, Britain, Australia and ASEAN countries.

The students in the International Curriculum program pay Rp 17.5 million (US$1,785) in annual fees to cover examination costs, books and teachers' honorariums.

"Currently, we have 48 students in the international program, who are divided into two classes," Tati said.

Many of the students who graduate from the two programs continue their studies abroad, while those who do not enroll at local universities.

A government report found that nearly 75 percent of SMU Negeri 70 graduates gained admittance to the most prestigious universities in Indonesia, such as the University of Indonesia and Trisakti University in Jakarta, the Institute of Technology and Padjadjaran University in Bandung, and Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

Another top high school in Jakarta, SMU Negeri 8 in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta, also has an Accelerated Class program.

Students must pay an enrollment fee of about Rp 6.5 million to get into the school.

The same government report found nearly 85 percent of the school's graduates were admitted to the top universities in the country.