A number of angry parents were seen pounding tables at a citizen service booth at Jakarta City Hall on Wednesday after their children were not admitted to the public schools of their choice despite obtaining high test scores.

One such parent was Yosi who said her child was not admitted to a state senior high school in Jakarta because the child attended Bogor junior high school (SMP) in West Java. They live in Jakarta.

“This is not the solution. You can’t just tell us to register at private schools. It’s not that easy,” Yosi said as reported by kompas.com.

She said that she and other parents did not know that students from outside Jakarta must sign up for preregistration to enroll in public high schools, adding that she did not receive any information beforehand.

“We do not understand the regulations because we were not informed about them. There needs to be a solution, don’t just tell us to go to private schools,” she said.

A public civil servant tried asking the parents to write out complaints forms, but the parents rejected the offer.

“I have written five pages of complaint forms, but there has been no solution,” Yosi said.

According to the official public school enrollment website, PPDB online, students from outside Jakarta and those qualified to receive affirmative action must sign up for preregistration according to the designated schedules. (ami)