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Jakarta Post

New school year brings relief after enrollment woes

Don’t leave!: A girl weeps as she refuses to let go of her mother on the first school day after the holidays at Kreo elementary school in South Tangerang, Banten, on Monday

Vela Andapita (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, July 16, 2019

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New school year brings relief after enrollment woes

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on’t leave!: A girl weeps as she refuses to let go of her mother on the first school day after the holidays at Kreo elementary school in South Tangerang, Banten, on Monday.(JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)

Schools in Greater Jakarta were once again packed with children after a nearly month-long break as the first day of the new school year began Monday.

The day was special for South Tangerang resident Iman Nugroho, who was beaming with pride as he dropped off his only son at a private junior high school in the morning.

“I am relieved. I’m proud that my family made it through all the hassles caused by the zoning system,” he said, referring to the central government’s enrollment zoning policy, which sparked protests from parents, students and education observers.

The policy stipulates that all state schools must prioritize enrolling students who live in their respective vicinities. The Education and Culture Ministry began to more strictly enforce the policy this year after it was launched in 2016, arguing it would boost the quality of state schools.

Last month, the zoning system forced parents to play the waiting game to obtain admissions documents for their schools of choice.

Iman and his wife faced such challenges. Imam explained that, at first, they had two state schools at the top of their list, both located within 1 kilometer from their house.

The first school rejected his son because their house is 900 meters away from the school — 200 meters too far, according to the zoning policy. The second school, located a bit farther, rejected his son because he did not have the minimum placement score.

“My son’s average score is 0.3 less than the school’s passing grade. He himself said, ‘Why am I being rejected? Why did the school accept my friend whose grade is lower than mine?’” Imam recalled.

The next big challenge, he said, was to keep his son motivated and restore his confidence.

Although he had to spend more money on the private school and deal with the added troubles of the zoning system, Iman said the hard work had paid off as his son had shown excitement about his journey ahead.

“He is glad because the placement test at the private school put him into a class of excellent students,” Iman added.

Another parent, Debby Sinta, also heaved a sigh of relief on the first day of school. Debby said her daughter was accepted into her school of choice — SMP 115 state junior high school in Tebet, South Jakarta — after a long and arduous process.

Debby said a month prior to the placement exams, she quit her job to focus all her attention on her daughter.

Meanwhile. the Jakarta administration takes students’ final grades into consideration, in addition to considering distances between homes and schools.

“Six months ahead of the national exam, I began monitoring my daughter’s grade, starting with her practice results,” she said.

Debby was among hundreds of parents who crowded the city’s schools on enrollment day on June 24. That day she arrived at school at 4 a.m. to obtain a student ID number for online enrollment via a website set up by the Jakarta Education Agency.

“I am just relieved that all the anxiety of checking the website to see whether my daughter got in or not is over and that she now will start at the school of her choice,” she said.

Both Iman and Debby accompanied their kids to school on their first day as an expression of support.

The excitement was also shared with other parents who made time to drive their children to school for their first day of kindergarten or elementary, junior or senior high school.

Some even left early in the morning, rushing to school to beat the crowds and reserve front-row classroom seats. Many parents also stayed for welcome and flag-hoisting ceremonies.

For the occasion, the Jakarta administration issued a circular allowing city officials to come to work late. City secretary Saefullah said the administration allowed civil servants to show up late on Monday as long as it was not past 9:30 a.m.

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