Sekayu school raises national education bar

Sun, 02/10/2008 12:57 PM  |  Discover

A long way from the hectic urban hustle and bustle, a small town stands as a model of educational excellence. This is Sekayu, the capital of Musi Banyuasin regency, 90 kilometers north of Palembang, South Sumatra, where a school has turned out a generation of brilliant students. The Jakarta Post correspondent Khairul Saleh recently visited the state senior high school, SMA2 Sekayu, one of the most well-known schools in town, and discovered a school of international standing amid the green environs of the area.

SMA 2 Sekayu is representative of the Musi Banyuasin authorities' great passion and drive for educational advancement. With 12 classes and 346 students, SMA Sekayu is among the six top South Sumatra schools that are part of the central government's pilot project for schools of international standing (RSBI), which is entering the second of its designed five-year term.

The school was completing renovations when the Post called in mid-January. Once the renovations are complete, this 2-hectare senior high school will surely emerge as an imposing architecture of modern design. The school also plans to incorporate the administration of SMP 6 Sekayu, an adjacent state junior high school that boasts the same excellence.

SMA 2 Sekayu principal Wien Sukarsi said the selection of the school among those under the RSBI was inseparable from the achievements it has made since 2002, when the regency administration launched its free education program.

Last year, for instance, 85 percent of SMA 2 graduates went on to elite tertiary institutes like Sriwijaya University in Palembang, the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, the Bogor Institute of Agriculture and the Bandung Institute of Technology -- all for whom the entrance exams were waived.

Such performance also can be attributed to the school's staff, facilities and infrastructure, ranging from quality teaching personnel to six laboratories with first-rate equipment for language, physics, computer science, chemistry, biology and social science studies. Extracurricular facilities include 10 sports fields and courts as well as a complete set of musical instruments. The school also has an Internet cafe, a community radio station and an eco-sanitation system.

The 400-square-meter Internet cafe operates under a free coupon system for students while the public may utilize the facility for Rp 5,000 (54 U.S. cents) an hour. Radio Suara SMANDA, meanwhile, has made waves as the first community radio station in the country managed by high school students.

"This radio station has become a medium of information exchange among SMA 2 students, teachers and Sekayu residents. It also serves to give guidance to people handling disasters like forest fires and floods," Wien told the Post.

Educational quality is promoted and maintained through various training programs and seminars, not only for SMA 2 Sekayu teachers, but also for teachers at other schools in Musi Banyuasin. Likewise, the school's extracurricular activities, including student gatherings, are open to participation by other students in the regency.

Since 2007, the school's teachers have been contracted through non-regular sources in cooperation with Sriwijaya University, Surakarta State University and Gadjah Mada University, particularly in the English department.

Of the 24 English teachers the school plans to recruit, 11 have been contracted from Sriwijaya University (three teachers), Surakarta University (four) and Gadjah Mada University (four). The English staff also help improve the capability of English teachers at this and other high schools in the regency.

"They have been rigorously selected, in addition to art teachers hired under the same arrangement. This program also cooperates with the Sampoerna Foundation," added Wien.

MODERN SCHOOL: The modern structure of SMA 2 Sekayu, which is under renovations, houses the leading school of Musi Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra. (JP/Khairul Saleh)

SMA 2 Sekayu, while it boasts the most complete and modern facilities in Musi Banyuasin, also provides free textbooks, uniforms and lunches for both students and teachers.

At present, the students still live at home or rent rooms while the school principal, teachers and administrative staff are provided accommodation within the school grounds. Eventually, the school will provide dormitories for all students as well as for unmarried teachers.

The school's educational system is unlike regular schools, where students study all subjects in a single class. Instead, each subject is taught separately according to each grade level.

"There are no overlapping lessons because teachers have a good command of the material taught, as guided by a comprehensively compiled curriculum," said Nur Azizah, a contractual English teacher.

Another key difference is that classes are over at 4:15 p.m. each day, and Saturdays are half-days reserved for arts and sports, and classes end at noon. Thus, SMA 2 students are free to develop their natural talents and abilities at their own pace, without any external pressure to make achievements in these areas. As a result, some students have emerged as Musi Banyuasin's best basketball players and rock climbers.

Students at the school come not only from the regency, but also from other areas in South Sumatra at a student body ratio of 80:20. According to Ade Karyana, head of the regency's education office, they expect the composition to change next year into 85 percent for Musi Banyuasin and 15 percent for other regions.

"The 15 percent allocation covers all regions in Indonesia. The school's grade point average will also change from the previous average of 7.5 (out of 10)," he said without elaborating.

Asked about the challenge other South Sumatra students would face in making the cut for the 15 percent quota, Ade stressed the need for competition -- which would nevertheless be inevitable.

"The fear is unreasonable. They should get used to fair competition. Otherwise they will only be local champions with no courage to face outsiders," he pointed out.

Uniquely, the regency's educational funds are not only derived from the regional budget but also come from non-governmental organizations like the Sampoerna Foundation, which has provided Rp 1.2 billion (US$129,834) to assist SMA 2 Sekayu under the United School Program, as well as the Tanoto Foundation and Liens Aid Singapore. Sampoerna has also provided aid for the construction of dormitories while Liens assists the school's radio station.

Last year's regency budget for education reached Rp 345.6 billion ($37.4 million), double the 2006 budget. This year, the budget has been increased to Rp 354 billion ($38.3 million).

Musi Banyuasin regent Alex Noerdin has also invited consultants from local and foreign universities, such as from the Institute for the Environment at Singapore's Nanyang Technology University (NTU), the British International School (BIS) and the U.S.' Fulbright program, all of which are providing free assistance to the regency's schools.

Meanwhile, SMA 2 Sekayu serves as a center of comparative studies for schools in other areas like Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Sumatra capital Medan and Bangka-Belitung, as well as foreign schools like BIS in Jakarta and the U.S.' Stamford University, which have established partnerships with SMA 2.

For example, BIS is SMA 2's sister school, and invites a number of SMA 2 students to study at BIS, during which time they stay with the families of BIS students. The international school also provides SMA 2 teachers with training opportunities.

Separately, in August 2007, 18 education majors from Stamford University, under the guidance of their professors, visited SMA 2 on a 15-day practical teaching program.

Regent Alex added that his administration's concern for education development constituted a concrete response to the prevailing conditions in this field. He is confident that, once renovations are complete, SMA 2 Sekayu will stand tall as one of the most advanced educational institutes in Indonesia.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.