Indonesia court rules international-standard schools illegal

The Indonesian Constitutional Court has ruled the international-standard school pilot project (RSBI) and international-standard schools (SBI) as illegal for not providing equal access to quality education to the people.

The court also felt that the use of English as the compulsory medium of instruction violated the law, apart from eroding the identity of the Indonesian-speaking society.

The ruling was decided by eight of nine judges yesterday. The Court's Chief Justice Mahfud MD said in the court ruling that the government gave different treatment to RSBI,SBI schools and public schools in terms of infrastructure and allocation of funds.

The permission granted to RSBI and SBI schools to charge higher fees indicates they cater only for wealthy families, he said.

Judge Achmad Sodiki, the only judge who gave a dissenting opinion, said parents aspired for quality education based on the RSBI and SBI school model for their children and its weaknesses could be rectified without denying the effort.

A group of parents, education activists, teachers, lecturers, and non-governmental organisations have applied to the Constitutional Court for a judicial review of the Education Law to pave the way for the setting up of RSBI and SBI schools.

In his reaction, Indonesian Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh said he respected the Constitutional Court's decision and asserted that the passion to improve the quality of education in Indonesia would continue without having to adopt the RSBI or SBI school models.