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Hikari school offers alternative learning, payment systems
Playing field: Students of Hikari school in Koceak, Keranggan village, play soccer in the schoolâs yard in South Tangerang
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Playing field: Students of Hikari school in Koceak, Keranggan village, play soccer in the schoolâs yard in South Tangerang. The school welcomes kids from families of all income levels, religions and races.(JP/agn) (JP/agn)
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span class="inline inline-center">Playing field: Students of Hikari school in Koceak, Keranggan village, play soccer in the school's yard in South Tangerang. The school welcomes kids from families of all income levels, religions and races.(JP/agn)
A crowd of about 30 fifth graders walked out of a blue classroom at the Hikari kindergarten and elementary school, chattering and laughing with light backpacks over their shoulders, heading for two racks on which their colorful shoes were lined up tidily.
Unlike most students in the country, Hikari students do not wear particular shoes, such as the black lace-ups which are part of the uniform at most schools nationwide.
'We let them wear what they want. That's how they represent themselves. They have been born different to each other. Why should we unify them?' said Fadilah Hasim, a Hikari cofounder who spent 12 years studying in Japan.
However, Fadilah added, the students still wore red shorts or skirts and white shirts as their uniform as many parents had requested it for the sake of 'morning practicality'.
Hikari ' meaning light in Japanese ' was established in 2011 by Fadilah and some of his friends under the Semarak Pendidikan Foundation.
Located in Koceak, Keranggan village, Setu subdistrict, South Tangerang, Hikari is a form of protest against Indonesia's education system, which has been commercialized through schools charging high fees, according to Fadilah.
With the help of numerous parties, including Japan's Postal Savings for International Voluntary Aid and the Indonesia Education Promotion Foundation, Fadilah and his friends designed the school as a pleasant place for kids to learn.
Sitting on a 4,800-square-meter plot of land, Hikari has a spacious schoolyard with shady trees, an amusing playground and colorful classrooms for its 220 students.
Adopting Japanese teaching methods, the school applies no grading system in a bid to encourage students to love the process of studying instead of merely pursuing the highest grades. As a replacement, teachers implement a reward system by recognizing students who successfully complete assignments using a star chart.
Hikari also includes cleaning as part of its main learning method. All school stakeholders, including students, teachers and administration staff, are obliged to clean up their classrooms after learning hours with the help of only one cleaning staff member. 'This is the way for the students to learn about responsibility,' said Fadilah.
According to Fadilah, Hikari was initially an alternative school for local children from Kampung Koceak. In 2011, Kampung Koceak was home to 6,000 low-income householders, with only two elementary schools that lacked adequate equipment. The Hikari founders have set up a payment system to enable local kids to join the school despite their parents' low incomes.
The monthly school fees currently range from Rp 150,000 (US$11) to Rp 300,000 for kindergarten and
Rp 120,000 to Rp 240,000 for elementary school, depending on a family's financial capability.
Under the system, parents can pay school fees in installments without time limitations. They can also pay with livestock manure or work for the school for two days.
'If they do not have cattle, they can work for two days at the school,' said Fadilah, adding that the school used cattle manure to make compost as part of an environmental sustainability project.
Though the payment system is still in effect, it is rarely applied nowadays as most of the students come from middle-class families.
The fees, therefore, do not concern most parents, like Eko Sulistyanto.
Eko, who earlier this month transferred his daughter to Hikari, said he was glad to find the school, which accepts hundreds of kids from all walks of life, religions and races without emphasizing any particular religious values.
He previously sent his daughter to two different religion-based schools, but he was disappointed to see his daughter indoctrinated with misleading values regarding other religions.
'This is Indonesia, which is unique for its diversity. Education, thus, should give space for children to learn to live with differences,' said Eko. (agn)
