Anita Rachman

City residents scrambling to buy school uniforms for their children at the bustling Jatinegara Market in East Jakarta on Thursday. Preparations for the new school year, which begins next week, have been a boon for market vendors as eager parents snap up uniforms and other school supplies. (Photo: Safir Makki, JG)

Students Urged To Fill Seats in State Schools

It’s not too late for students to secure their place in state schools in the capital, at least for another day, as thousands of seats are still available at various schools in Jakarta, an education official said on Thursday.

Taufik Yudi Mulyanyo, the head of the city’s Education Agency, said there were still thousands of vacant seats at dozens of state junior high, senior high and vocational schools in the city.

“I have yet to receive the latest data for Thursday,” Taufik said. “However, I also believe that there are already many students applying for those seats.”

He said the latest data at the agency suggested there were 1,740 unoccupied seats in senior high schools. State vocational high schools 1,170 vacant seats, while about 4,060 seats were still open at state junior high schools across the city.

The capital’s 157 state high schools can accommodate 30,972 students, although state junior high schools this year produced a total of 132,697 graduates. The city’s 64 state vocational schools can absorb a further 15,993 students. State junior high schools can accept about 70,000 students. “But these numbers are changing fast,” Taufik said. “I believe that by tomorrow, students will have filled all the seats.”

Students can apply for the vacant seats until today. Schools will screen students based on their national examination scores.

Taufik said he could guarantee that all schools were being transparent in their screening of applicants because registration updates could be monitored through the agency’s Web sites: http://dikmentidki.siap-psb.com or www.psb-smpdki.org.

Taufik said that the number of vacant seats should not be seen as a sign that state schools in Jakarta were losing their attraction for prospective students.

“Some students who were accepted did not reregister themselves later,” he said. “I don’t know. Maybe some decided to apply to private schools.”

Under the current registration system, students are allowed to list five preferred state senior high schools in Jakarta on their application.

Taufik said that some students who were accepted to schools at the bottom of their list may instead have opted to enroll at private schools.

He said some state schools might also have trouble attracting students because of their location or the lack of access to public transportation.

“The trend is still good, very good,” Taufik said. “It is a very tight competition. In some schools one seat is being vied for by six students.”

He cited as an example State Senior High School (SMPN) 102 in Cijantung, which currently has 16 empty seats. “That sounds like a big number, but there are a total of 240 seats,” Taufik said. “So, it’s actually a small number.”

Taufik suggested that students and parents act fast to secure seats, but reminded them that private schools were still an option if they failed to find a place.

Your View

See Result