This May, final year students in Indonesia is very anxious waiting for their graduation announcement that they have done last month. They are very anxious about their grade because it is used for their enrolment to higher education.

Students’ Uniform in Indonesia (smartbimbel.com)

In Indonesia, there are three levels of education before continuing to work or studying in university, Normally, elementary school is finished for 6 years, junior high school for 3 years, senior high school or vocational school for 3 years. It can be shorter for people who joining acceleration class, or longer for those who get held back. Kindergarten or playgroup are not compulsory. Students usually enter elementary school in age 7, starting junior high in 13, and continue senior high in 16.

Students who want to continue to study in the university can enter senior high school, while students who want to continue working can enter vocational school in various fields, from hospitality, machinery, fashion, design, and others. There are also schools which emphasize more on different field meanwhile getting the same education with regular school, such as international school, which subjects are being taught in English and madrasah, where students learning more about religion alongside regular subjects.

Students wear uniform every day, for Monday usually they wear uniform for flag ceremony (white shirt-white skirt or trousers with black shoes, white socks, cap and tie). In Tuesday until Thursday, students wear school uniform (red for elementary, dark blue for junior high, and gray for senior high) and for Friday and Saturday they wear identity uniform (different for each school), scout uniform, or batik shirt (for school in Java). In Physical Education, there is also a school P.E. uniform. After they go to university though, there is no need to wear uniform.

Flag Ceremony (vianney.sch.id)

Students go to school from Monday to Saturday in public school. School hours usually starts from 7.00. For high school students (not in full day school), they go back home at 14.00 after 8 school hours and two rest periods in between. In Friday, usually school finish sooner because of Friday’s prayer schedule. After school, students can join extracurricular activities ranging from arts, martial arts, science, hiking club, scouts, theatre, and others.

Some Extracurricular Activities in Indonesia: Pencak Silat (sdnkeputran2.sch.id), Paskibraka (Flag Bearing Corps) (magomagz.com), Marching Band (mtsn-binuang.yolasite,com)

In elementary school, students learn mathematics, civics, Indonesian, life science, social science, religion, P.E., arts, local contents (differ for each province, such as local languages or English). In the national examination, Indonesian, Math, and Life Science are tested. In junior high school, English become compulsory and also being one of the subjects in national examination.

Students playing traditional games in Scouts (solopos.com)

In Senior High School, students can specify their interest, such as Life Science, Social Science, Languages, Islamic religion, or Vocational studies. For these different interests, they have to learn Mathematics, Indonesian, and English for national examination and three compulsory subjects for their interest. For Life Science students, the compulsory subjects are Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. For Social Science students, they need to learn Sociology, Geography, and Economy. Language students can choose one language from Arabic, France, German, Japanese, or Mandarin other than Indonesian literature and Anthropology. Vocational students are also being tested for their respective fields. Other than that, students are also still learning subjects such as Civics, History, P.E., religion. Local contents can be filled by many subjects according to their interests, such as languages, business, advanced courses, dances, music, arts, and others.

In national examination, students are expected to do well because the result is meant to determine their entrance to higher education, other than their grade. It will be easier for Students who do well in both national examination and in class for entering school of their choice.

There is also a choice to do entrance examination for public university. The national examination is usually being done around April and the result being announced on May.

Vocational School of Machinery (solopos.com)

School year usually starts in August and Finishes around July and being done for two semesters each year. University starts in September and finishes in June. In university, you are expected to choose one field as your major since the start, so choosing major is very important. Other than civics and religion, you are expected to finish the major you started.

It is not compulsory to continue to graduate school. After basic educations, student can choose to study more or to work. These months are busy months for final year students in Indonesia. How about in your country?

Sources: Education in Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia) in Wikipedia Bahasa Indonesia, Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Dasar, Menengah, Kejuruan, dan Islam (Bahasa Indonesia).

(Originally posted here)