Providing new services to families that home-school in Jakarta?

Puspawarna

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If you are a think-outside-the-box teacher, Indonesian or expat, especially male teachers with experience teaching middle school ages kids in English, I hope you’ll read this.

I just had an interesting chat with an Indonesian friend about a new project she has in mind. This friend is a child development specialist with experience evaluating kids and developing home-schooling plans.

As those of you familiar with how home-schooling (at least the non-religious variety) is done, most home-schooled kids don’t sit at home with a book and a parent doing assignments on line and nothing more. Good home schooling involves mentors, field trips, and exposure to lots of new people and ideas – it just doesn’t involve being enrolled somewhere like JIS or BINUS.

Anyway, my friend is in the early stages of a business plan that involves partnering with a local organization that caters to expats (not a school) to offer educational services to children who are being home-schooled. She has some good ideas and nibbles from potential families, but wants to come up with a really solid plan, including identifying first-rate instructors (especially male teachers, as the target group of students is currently all male).

At the moment this is entirely speculative. No, there is no guarantee that jobs for expats with a KITAS/IMTA can be worked out. But, the need for a KITAS/IMTA in order to work legally is on her radar, and who knows where things might be a year or two from now?

My friend would like to get a feel for what kind of resources are out there: what if she COULD arrange legal teaching positions? What if there are equally qualified Indonesians she could hire? What if there are people who just want to chat with her about her ideas, because they support the idea of having a strong home-schooling support network for expats in Jakarta?

So that’s basically it. She asked me where she could start identifying people to talk to, and of course, I suggested that I mention it here.

If this is a conversation/project you might like to contribute to, or be considered for, pop me a PM and I will put you in touch with her.
 
Great idea Pusp, however the whole mainly male students so mainly male teachers is a rather irksome mindset.

I have dealt with a vast quantity of male children/YAs (several hundred) over the years & my gender is/has been irrelevant to the tasks at hand.
 
Great idea Pusp, however the whole mainly male students so mainly male teachers is a rather irksome mindset.

I have dealt with a vast quantity of male children/YAs (several hundred) over the years & my gender is/has been irrelevant to the tasks at hand.

I take your point, but it is her thing, not mine. However, absent a special effort to recruit males, a lot of times teachers of young kids are only female. All but one of my son's teachers were women until he hit the higher grades.

I guess in a perfect world I'd like to see a mix of types of instructors, so kids don't get the idea that only one type of person is suitable as a teacher (or any profession, for that matter).
 
Puspa ; interesting idea. Right now KITAS for a teacher doing that would be impossible. She will really need to lobby the authorities hard. Or just use local teachers (some of whom are easily capable).

Also note the expat students also need a KITAS and homeschooling may be tricky to get one through...
 
Also note the expat students also need a KITAS and homeschooling may be tricky to get one through...

Hmm, can you explain this further? I know what you mean about the teachers - when my friend shared her idea with me, the first thing I did was remind her that she couldn't employ expat teachers legally without a really major organizational/bureaucratic effort.*

The kids, though...that part I'm not sure I understand. I'll use my family as an example: my husband and I have always been legally in Indonesia via some flavor of KITAS or DINAS, either working or as a dependent of the other spouse. Our son has always had a KITAS or DINAS as a dependent, usually of his dad though he's also been a dependent on my KITAS.

Throughout his time in Indonesia, he was enrolled at either AIS or JIS. In the last few years, for well-known reasons, JIS has been absolutely paranoid about demanding up-to-date proof of visa status from all family members. But that was for JIS's records in case immigration decided to come by and cause trouble; we didn't obtain our son's visa through JIS in any way. Had we home-schooled our son, he simply would have had the same visa status, but one fewer institutions would have been asking for it.

(*) Though I wonder about grey areas ... I'm making up this example because we didn't home school our son, so I am not totally familiar with all the particulars. But I know that something like this did happen: there is, or at least was, an expat "guidance counselor" of sorts here. I don't know how he stays legal - maybe he is incorporated in a business with his wife, maybe he does 100% of his work on line, whatever. Anyway, he would spend time mentoring my son's home-schooled friend - in person or on line or both, I don't really know. But let's say they went to the zoo together, then talked about the ethical treatment of animals and the student had to research the topic and write an opinion piece. Seems like a really good home-schooling type of activity to me. So could the counselor get in legal trouble for going to the zoo with the student? (I know, the answer is probably "you bet!" But still, it's not like being a teacher, and technically the only paid work might have been on line.)
 
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Maybe there is different routes to the KITAS for students then, but I know a few are obtained through our school, or our school helps or something. I will ask and find out more clearly for you.
 
Puspa ; interesting idea. Right now KITAS for a teacher doing that would be impossible. She will really need to lobby the authorities hard. Or just use local teachers (some of whom are easily capable).
I concur with WK's assesment, especially if we are talking about a full time position with a contract labeling the job as "guru" or any similar term (penutur asli, dll).
 
I concur with WK's assesment, especially if we are talking about a full time position with a contract labeling the job as "guru" or any similar term (penutur asli, dll).

My guess is that it would not be a full-time gig, but I don't think that helps at all. I myself have had, and presumably needed, a KITAS/IMTA when I was working part-time.
 
But I know that something like this did happen: there is, or at least was, an expat "guidance counselor" of sorts here. I don't know how he stays legal - maybe he is incorporated in a business with his wife, maybe he does 100% of his work on line, whatever. Anyway, he would spend time mentoring my son's home-schooled friend - in person or on line or both, I don't really know. But let's say they went to the zoo together, then talked about the ethical treatment of animals and the student had to research the topic and write an opinion piece. Seems like a really good home-schooling type of activity to me. So could the counselor get in legal trouble for going to the zoo with the student? (I know, the answer is probably "you bet!" But still, it's not like being a teacher, and technically the only paid work might have been on line.)
I am not gonna pulling you a Mr M. (;)) but yes, the guy could theoretically be in trouble unless if he's doing it in a rather informal way and residing here with a KITAS/P sponsored by an Indonesian spouse.
The chances that he gets reported are pretty low and I believe he may do so for years without being bothered by Imigrasi or anyone.

If I would have find anyone in my city able to tutor full time my kids for home schooling I wouldn't have hesitated a second.
 
I was thinking. I work frelancelance online and register as home bussiness and paid tax to the goverment. I know Atlantis ever quote that we(guys) holder of KITAS/KITAP have the right to provide food for our family. We also have right to open bussiness for ourself. So that said rather that said work for a school can one self register as freelance teacher and "provide service" to teach. Something like taking up contract work not as staff of the school but as a provider of service to the school?
 
I was thinking. I work frelancelance online and register as home bussiness and paid tax to the goverment. I know Atlantis ever quote that we(guys) holder of KITAS/KITAP have the right to provide food for our family. We also have right to open bussiness for ourself. So that said rather that said work for a school can one self register as freelance teacher and "provide service" to teach. Something like taking up contract work not as staff of the school but as a provider of service to the school?

that was my initial thought as well.
 
I'm not sure the schools are allowed to do that with full time teachers. Because they might see it as schools trying to avoid paying tax, avoid paying into BPJS etc.
 
Hey, I'd forgotten about this thread. I haven't heard from my friend in a while. No idea if she has made any progress - I will have to ask.
 

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