There Are Already 350 PMI Children Studying At The Johor Bahru Indonesian School Which Anies Inaugurated

JAKARTA - A total of 350 children of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) are now studying at the Johor Bahru Indonesian School (SIJB), Malaysia.

"At the beginning of the establishment of SIJB there were only seven students, all of which were PMI children. Furthermore, in 2015, at the attention of the ministry at the center, the SIJB building was established and inaugurated directly by the Minister of Education and Culture Anies Baswedan at that time," said the Consul Implementing the Social and Cultural Information Function of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) Johor Bahru Mohamad Rizali Noor was contacted from Kuala Lumpur, Friday 5 August quoted from Antara

Rizali, who is also the Acting Principal of the Indonesian Johor Bahru School, said that at the beginning of the 2022 learning year, the number of children studying at the school reached 350 consisting of elementary and junior high school students.

SIJB, according to him, began providing education services on January 5, 2014 at the initiation of the Consul General of Johor Bahru Taufiqur Rizali, who saw the need for the Indonesian government to provide protection for the children of migrant workers in the form of fulfilling the basic right to education.

Its establishment was not easy considering the status of the residence permits of the parents and their children, which were almost entirely undocumented, said Rizali.

However, thanks to the efforts of a consistent approach to the local government, currently the existence of SIJB has been relatively recognized, although it is not yet formally a place for education for Indonesian children.

He said that 100 percent of the students at SIJB were PMI children who did not have documents when they applied to school. They were born in Malaysia and certainly have never set foot in the country.

The SIJB building is located within the Consulate General in Johor Bahru and consists of four floors with adequate facilities, namely 18 classrooms with a capacity of 20 students each.

There is also an indoor sports room that can accommodate about 200 students, a teacher's room that can accommodate 150 people, a laboratory for science and computers, a room for a dance studio and a music studio.

In addition, he said SIJB also has an operational vehicle that can be used to drop off and pick up school children.

SIJB uses the Merdeka Learning curriculum as applied in Indonesia. The school is now registered in the national school registration number, so that all graduates can continue their education in the country without the need for a diploma equivalency stage.

"There are several scholarship schemes provided, but the numbers are not sufficient, so we are still trying to find sources of financing for our children here so they can continue their education in Indonesia," said Rizali.

Currently, according to him, there are 17 teachers and one education staff who are all Indonesian citizens (WNI) who teach students at SIJB.

They are generally teachers employed by the Ministry of Education and Culture to serve as teachers for Indonesian children abroad, but some are from Johor Bahru.