School, told in 4 parts. [1/4]

Ever frustrated by the lack of informations on school and how they work? Ever get extremely confused by Wikipedia's gibberish overly sophisticated language? Still wondering how the darn schools work here?

Worry not. I probably will not explain this clearly. Now badly illustrated by me!



All right, that aside. There is a point to dividing this topic into several parts, seeing the details I intend to pour into these. They are 1) General details, 2) The inside, 3) Rules and uniforms, 4) Ceremonies. Yes, ceremonies.

Let's start off with how exactly school works.

For most children, school is divided into four: Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior High, and High school.

Kindergarten takes two years. The basics are the same, though there is a special emphasis on religion. It's not required by law.
Sidenote here, there's something regarding that emphasis on religion that I feel is relevant. Parents often sign their kids into TPA, Tempat Pendidikan Al Qur'an or basically, school of the Qur'an. TPA can also mean Tempat Pembuangan Akhir, or Landfill / where crap goes, but when people say TPA they generally mean the school one.
Anyway, most kids get their more religious education here. TPA teaches kids how to pray and read Arabic. They are often run by the nearest mosque, whether by local women or if the mosque is owned by an institution, by the students. Most stays until they reach Iqra 6 (more on this later). It's mostly not age-limited.

Elementary is more formal. Uniform is white and red. 6 years.
Classes: Indonesian Language, English, Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Computer, P.E. , Religion, and Local Language, if available. In Islamic school, the Local Language might be replaced by more Religion-related classes.
*there is a plan to change this curriculum by 2013. The new  one should be Religion, Maths, Indonesian Language, Citizenship Education, P.E., and Arts and Crafts.

Junior High School. Uniform is white and dark blue. 3 years.
Classes: Indonesian Language, English, Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, History, Computer, P.E., Religion, and Local Curriculum. Local curriculum is determined by school and might vary year by year. I've seen 7th graders take Crafts, 8th graders Accounting, and 9th graders Cooking.

High School. Uniform is white and slate blue. 3 years. (Also screw you people who say it's white and grey)
Classes: 10th Grade > Indonesian Language, English, Arts, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Sociology, Economics, History, Geography, Computer, P.E., Religion, and Local Curriculum. Local curriculum is determined by school and might vary year by year. I personally had Electronics for 10th grade, and Design for 11th and 12th grade.

11th & 12th Grade Science > Indonesian Language, English, Arts, Mathematics, History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer, P.E., Religion, and Local Curriculum.

11th & 12th Grade Social Studies > Indonesian Language, English, Arts, Mathematics, History, Sociology, Economics, Geography, Computer, P.E., Religion, and Local Curriculum.

SMK
SMK is another option for High School (SMA), which focuses itself on work experience instead of more theoretical SMA. These often have separate, more specialized classes, like Multimedia, Design, Accounting, Electronics, etcetera. They also have separate uniform that is assigned by school.

MTs & MA
MTs and MA are the Islamic counterparts to Junior High School and High School. They often have extra Islamic classes, requiring students to be able to read and understand Arabic. No national uniform other than the requirement to wear hijab and absolutely no short shirt/skirt.

UNIFORM
While each school might differ, the general gist is this:
Monday: Everyday school uniform OR white shirt and white skirt or pants, school hat often a must.
Tuesday: Everyday school uniform.
Wednesday: Everyday school uniform, though I see the occasional batik uniform.
Thursday: USUALLY Batik, assigned by school, but sometimes I see plaid shirts, too.
Friday: Personally I have plaid shirt, but sometimes they have a Muslim uniform, which is a long-sleeved, white shirt along with the usual pants/skirt.

Phew. That's one long post.