BANDUNG - Deputy Chairman of the West Java DPRD Iwan Suryawan invited the public to start changing their views on private schools amid the polemics over the capacity of the New Student Admission System (SPMB) that has resurfaced in West Java.
According to Iwan, the problem of the limited capacity of state schools must be addressed with realistic solutions, including strengthening the role of private schools as part of a quality and affordable education system for the community.
"We want to ensure that the budget allocated by the local government to subsidize private schools is really targeted for the pre-prosperous community, so that no child in West Java drops out of school just because they did not pass the selection of state schools," said Iwan Suryawan, Wednesday, June 17.
Data from the West Java Education Service shows that the capacity of state SPMB at the SMA/SMK level in West Java is only around 329,000 students, while the number of prospective students who apply reaches almost twice the available capacity.
Seeing this condition, Iwan assessed that the community needed to understand that the success of education was no longer determined by the status of state or private schools alone.
"I understand the anxiety of parents and parents very well. But let's be honest with ourselves, do we want our children to be successful, or do we just want the prestige of having the name of a state school written on their uniforms?" he said.
The PKS politician emphasized that the challenges of the world of work and the development of technology today require broader abilities than just a school background.
"The success of children today is not determined by the label of state or private. What is much more important is character, adaptability, skills, and readiness to face changes in time," said Iwan.
Therefore, he encouraged the "Proud of Private Schools" movement not to stop as a slogan, but to be followed by concrete steps to improve the quality of education in private schools.
According to Iwan, the West Java DPRD together with the West Java Provincial Government is currently continuing to encourage various programs to strengthen the quality of education, including for private schools.
"The DPRD together with the West Java Provincial Government is currently launching a massive quality improvement program, ranging from periodic certification of private teachers, equalization of laboratory facilities, to the digitization of classrooms so that their quality is equivalent to state schools," he said.
He hopes that these efforts can reduce the quality gap between state and private schools so that the public has more quality education options.
In addition, Iwan reminded parents to focus more on developing children's competencies rather than just chasing the status of a certain school.
"The future of work will value skills, language ability, certification of expertise, and mastery of technology more than just looking at where someone's school is," he said.
In the midst of the high tension of the new student admission process, Iwan also asked parents to maintain the psychological condition of children who are facing the transition period of education.
"Our children are great imitators. If they see their parents stressed and think that failing to enter state schools is the end of everything, they will grow up with a fragile mentality. Let's show them that wherever they study, they can still be stars," said Iwan.
Previously, West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi stated that the provincial government was preparing a cooperation scheme with private schools to ensure that children from poor families could still access education for free.
According to Dedi, the problem of the capacity of state schools is a problem that keeps recurring every year because the number of SMP graduates is not proportional to the capacity of government schools.
"So if every year people are still arguing about PPDB, it's normal. Because not all SMP graduates are accommodated in government high schools," said Dedi.
He said that about 25 percent of junior high school graduates in West Java could not be accommodated in state schools and would be directed to private schools that had cooperated with the government.
"Today, 25 percent of the total graduation is not accommodated in government schools. It will go to the private sector, but we want a memorandum of understanding so that poor people are free and the names of the free ones are in the MoU," he said.
The West Java Provincial Government has also prepared a budget of around Rp. 600 billion to support free education programs for the poor, both in state and private schools.
"The point is, the government will cover all poor people for free schools in the country or private schools. If the government school can't accommodate, then private schools. We will work together later. There is already an existing Rp600 billion," said Dedi.
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