Prestigious schools to be set up in rural Indonesia to groom leaders

JAKARTA – Business executive Kariyanto Hardjosoemarto helps his company to sell Mercedes-Benz vehicles that can cost 12 billion rupiah (S$1.02 million) each in Jakarta, a far cry from his childhood on a farm in rural Magetan regency, some 600km to the east.

- Linda Yulisman

The son of a vegetable farmer and horse-cart driver attributed his success to his three years in SMA Taruna Nusantara, a prestigious boarding school located in Magelang, Central Java, that has groomed many Indonesian professionals since it opened in 1990.

The school – whose name means Teenagers of the Archipelago Senior High School, and is akin to upper secondary to pre-university levels in Singapore – is set to become even more prominent under President Prabowo Subianto.

The Prabowo administration is set to announce the construction of 20 schools modelled on Taruna – with four to be built in 2025 – as he seeks to groom Indonesia's brightest from families with rural backgrounds, officials say.

It is an aim Mr Kariyanto, 47, can identify with.

“The senior high school years were the turning point in my life. The school, where I learnt about discipline and gained confidence, really laid down the foundations of my life,” said the sales and marketing director at Inchcape Indomobil Distribution Indonesia, the distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Indonesia.

“If I had not studied in Taruna Nusantara, I might have ended up as a farmer in my village like most of my friends.”

Magetan is located in East Java province.