TEMPO.CO, Balikpapan - Minister of Education and Culture Muhadjir Effendi received many critics following the proposal of the full day school program. Education Department in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on the other hand, embraces the program and is ready to implement it so that the students would only have five days of school.
“Balikpapan would be the first region in East Kalimantan that will conduct the [full day school] trial,” said Balikpapan Education Department Head Muhaimin on Tuesday, September 27, 2016.
He will appoint a state owned school to implement the full day school program. According to Muhaimin, some school subjects would need to be compressed so it would fit the five-day school. “For the time being, we’re waiting for technical instructions from the Ministry of Education and Culture,“ he said.
According to him, the full day school will have a positive effect because the students could focus on school activities all day. ”The students would not have a chance to conduct negative activities outside the school,” he added. In addition, their parents could pick them up after office hours.
Muhaimin refers to the system at a private owned school in Balikpapan; the Patra Dharma school - under the Pertamina Foundation, that has practiced the system for the last five years. “All the Patra Dharma schools, whether it’s primary, middle, or high school, have implemented the five days of learning,” He added.
SG WIBISONO