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o sound of chattering could be heard among the students in the dimly lit class in the privately run learning and teaching center (PKBM) Sukses in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on a recent Thursday.

Liavi Viana Dewi, 22, stared hard as she scribbled on a test paper, murmuring quietly as she read the questions.

“I wanted to change how I see the world. I have been in my comfort zone for years earning a living. Now, it’s time to get out of that,” Liavi told The Jakarta Post.

Liavi dropped out of high school back in 2013 because of financial difficulties.

Regardless of age, 138 students, including Liavi, have enrolled in the learning center in a program popularly known as kejar paket for school dropouts to earn high school certificates.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti received many plaudits for getting her high school diploma last year after taking a high school equivalency examination. The minister had dropped out of high school when she was in second grade to pursue a successful career in the aviation business with her airline Susi Air.

Rosa Kandatriana, a sociology tutor at PKBM Sukses said the equivalency diploma program at the PKBM was an option for those who had not completed their formal education. The program is divided into three types: primary school certificate (Paket A), junior high school certificate (Paket B) and high school certificate (Paket C).

To register for these classes, applicants have to contact their preferred PKBM and submit the necessary documents, which include a photocopy of the applicant’s identity card, birth certificate and previous school certificate, among other requirements.

Another student Wandi, 35, said he was taking classes at the center to achieve a better future and also to later study at university.

“My dream is to be an entrepreneur, a restaurant owner. I even told my wife to continue [her studies] too so that we both can manage the business well,” said Wandi, 35, who quit school in 1997 as a result of bullying in junior high school.

Unlike privately funded PKBM Sukses, state-run PKBM 38 in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, runs on support from the Jakarta administration. The center operates on the basis of education operational funding, which supports its activities and supplies books for the students.

At the national level, the Education and Culture Ministry provides an online learning system for all schools called seTARA, where teachers can upload their learning materials and assignments for students to access them and take their exams online.

Anton, the operational head of PKBM 38, said only some learning centers had the necessary means to apply the initiative.

“Even though the system is there, we haven’t applied it because of a lack of facilities, especially computers and servers,” he said.(mai)