Education and Schools in Jakarta

Expats have a wide variety of options when it comes to education in Jakarta. While Jakarta's public schools are not popular among expat families, the city boasts an impressive array of international schools. These cater to expat students from several countries, including the UK, the US, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and Singapore. Many international schools also offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme.

Read more about Education and Schools in Indonesia.

Public schools in Jakarta

Compulsory schooling starts at age seven in Indonesia and lasts for nine years, during which time schooling is free of charge.

Public schools in Jakarta are administered by the local government and follow the Indonesian curriculum. The teaching language at these schools is Bahasa Indonesia.

The most significant deterrent for most expat families is the language barrier that exists in public schooling. Expats moving to the city with children generally send them to one of the many excellent international schools instead, especially if they'll only be in Indonesia for a limited time.

Private schools in Jakarta

Private schools in Indonesia usually offer an international curriculum in combination with the local Indonesian curriculum, and classes are generally in English rather than Indonesian. The International Baccalaureate is commonly taught in these schools.

While the majority of students at private schools are Indonesian, some expat parents choose to send their children to these schools due to the lower fees compared to international schools and the opportunity for more cultural integration for their children.

International schools in Jakarta

Although international schools in Jakarta can often be expensive, they usually offer a good standard of education and also have the advantage of allowing children to continue with a familiar and internationally recognised curriculum.

In a bid to regulate the quality of education in Indonesia, the government no longer permits schools to use the word 'international' in their title. Before this regulation, low-quality schools would often tack 'international' on their names to justify charging high fees. Most international schools are now classified as Satuan Pendidikan Kerjasama (SPK) – this roughly translates as collaborative schools. SPK schools are required to teach Indonesian civics, religion and language.

Useful links

• Read more about International Schools in Jakarta
• See the Perkumpulan Sekolah SPK Indonesia membership directory for an exhaustive list of SPK schools in the country

Special-needs education in Jakarta

Jakarta has two types of public schools that cater to students with special needs: inclusive schools and extraordinary schools. Inclusive schools have a student body of both mainstream students and those with special needs, while extraordinary schools are dedicated solely to special-needs education. Most expat families find that the government doesn't offer adequate support and instead opt for private schooling.

It's worth noting that many international schools can provide the specialised services such a student would require, depending on the severity of the condition in question. Parents should enquire with individual schools to find out about the special-needs support they can offer and the costs involved.

Useful links

• Expat parents may be able to find events, resources, support and a special-needs community on Eblity Jakarta

Tutors in Jakarta

Tutors are widely used in Indonesia. For expat families, tutors can be a great help in giving expat children a leg up in adjusting to a new school, especially if an unfamiliar curriculum or language is involved. Some expat families hire a tutor to help maintain a child's mother tongue or to help them learn and refine Indonesian or English quickly.

The months leading up to final exams are busy for tutors, who are often hired to help students reach peak performance. Most tutors specialise in a particular subject, but some can help across the board, especially when it comes to teaching general essay writing and study techniques.

Useful links

• The Apprentus platform advertises private lessons and tutors
• Teacheron lists teachers in Jakarta for parents to contact
• TiA Tutoring Center Jakarta specialises in providing language tutoring, both English and BIPA (Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers)