The education agency secured Rp 34 billion (US$2.37 million) in the 2019 city budget to build the so-called gifted school this year. The funds for the project were from among Rp 2.02 trillion allocated for the agency to conduct projects comprising school building renovations and the construction of new school buildings.

Agency head Ratiyono said the school aimed to accommodate students with an IQ above 130.

“We hope [the gifted school] will prepare students to represent Jakarta and Indonesia in global competition,” he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

It is planned that the school will have three levels of education: elementary, junior high school and senior high school.

The school, when officially opened, will add to the city-owned bilingual boarding school for excellent students called SMA Unggulan M.H Thamrin in Cipayung, East Jakarta. The state high school only accepts students who graduated with flying colors from their junior high school and also those with an IQ higher than 120.

Ratiyono said the city expected the construction of the gifted school to begin in June and be completed by December for students to enroll in July 2020, when the first semester of the new school year begins.

“Its location is still undecided, but the administration is considering building it in Cawang, East Jakarta,” he said, adding that no official name had been decided yet.

The idea for the school was first brought up by former deputy governor Sandiaga Uno, who said during the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election campaign trail that he and then-running mate Anies Baswedan wanted to build a gifted school for the young brains in the capital city.

The plan came following Sandiaga’s visit to Cugenang Gifted School in Cianjur, West Java. The private school was the first ever gifted school in the country for highly intelligent students with an IQ of at least 130 from low-income families.

Sandiaga argued that such a school would not only accommodate highly gifted and talented students, but it could also direct them to a brighter future as he said if they are not identified and treated properly, the children could instead become a social burden.

Ratiyono said that although there were still no details on the capacity of the planned school, the agency would conduct IQ tests as well as psychological tests for children to enroll. He also explained that his agency would open recruitment for teachers who are qualified to teach at the school.

The school project, he claimed, was in line with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ambition to improve the quality of Indonesia’s human resources to support the development of the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0.

Prominent education expert Arief Rachman said the gifted school would help smarter students to accelerate the growth of their intellectual ability and achieve their full potential.

However, he questioned the inclusivity of such a school. Arief said that besides taking intelligence as the main consideration, interaction with other students who are not as intellectually gifted was also crucial.

“We must remember that IQ is not the only important thing. There must be EQ, emotional quotient, and SQ, social quotient, in education. They must interact [with others],” he said.

The Jakarta Goods and Services Procurement Agency is currently in the tender process for contractors carrying out the construction projects for renovating 136 school buildings and constructing 11 new school buildings including the gifted school. (das)

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