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Science and multicultural education on Lombok
The sound of happy children and busy classrooms is familiar to residents of Montong on the West Coast of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara
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Cheers: Students from Sekolah Nusa Alam pose together during Science Week at their school. (Hadian Bayu Prayogi/File)
W
hen we visited Sekolah Nusa Alam recently, it was Science Week. A group of junior high students were happily working to solve a challenge, making a bridge from cardboard and other trash. Some elementary school children were making colourful posters about the dangers of chemicals in common household products, and kindergarteners were figuring out how long it takes to fill a jar with sand.
Sekolah Nusa Alam opened its doors for the first time in January 2000. The school was established by members of Lombok’s international community — two Indonesians, a Brit and an Australian. At that time, there were only thirteen students.
“The aim is to provide international quality education for Indonesian children and expatriate families on Lombok,” explained Enny Asmororini, the school’s principal.
“We have children from many backgrounds — Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. We have many nationalities at our school: Koreans, Australians, Dutch, British and Indonesians from all over the country — Tionghoa, Javanese, Sasak and Balinese. The beautiful thing is that the children all get along together. We’re like a big family,” she said.
Sekolah Nusa Alam is a community-based school. It was established and funded by the community. In the beginning, the school faced major challenges due to civil unrest on Lombok. “Riots broke out on the day we opened!” Enny explained. “It was a time of unrest in Indonesia. By the end of the day, most of our families had left the island,” she reminisced.
With persistence and hard work, the founders continued to develop the school.
In January 2017, Sekolah Nusa Alam celebrated 17 years of its continuing operation. The school’s achievements are clear. The school now runs classes from early childhood to high school.
Sekolah Nusa Alam is accredited by the Indonesian government and has acquired a top rating for every level of education from kindergarten, elementary, middle school to high school. It is also the only school that holds a license to teach both the national curriculum and an international curriculum.
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Sekolah Nusa Alam is also the only school on the island that is licensed to teach the Cambridge International Curriculum, ranging from early childhood to high school, and is an Accredited Testing Centre for Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) for grade 10.
Graduates of Sekolah Nusa Alam have been accepted into many universities in foreign countries such as Australia, France, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as other prestigious international schools and universities in Indonesia.
“My children have grown and developed into independent, responsible and respectful young people,” said Sri Lestari, one of the school’s parents.
“They [the children] have a good attitude and show tolerance toward others, regardless of background. They are collaborative, have a good mind set and have mastered the English language. They can speak, read and write properly,” she added.
“This achievement is not an easy thing,” explained Sopantini, the Head of the Board of Trustees and one of the school’s founders.
“It takes a long time because it requires the recognition and endorsement of the Indonesian government. It also takes the combined effort of everyone in the school community: teachers, parents and children,” she added.
From her experience, she advised parents to be very careful when considering a school for their children.
Read also: Integrated education may not be ideal for all special needs kids
“Be sure that the school you choose has a solid legal basis. Some initial questions to ask: does the school have a legally constituted foundation? Is it properly licensed by the Indonesian government? Is it accredited to provide an international curriculum?” she said.
Establishing and running a school with dual curriculum and children from many different cultural backgrounds and many language backgrounds is a big challenge.
However, from the satisfied look of the children and parents attending Science Week at Sekolah Nusa Alam, we knew that the hard work of the teachers and founders really paid off.
