Sekolah Pelita Harapan (SPH) is a group of five

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Christian

international school An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body an ...

s located around

Greater Jakarta The Jakarta metropolitan area or Greater Jakarta, known locally as Jabodetabek (an acronym of Jakarta–Bogor–Depok–Tangerang–Bekasi), and sometimes extended to Jabodetabekjur (with the acronym extended to include part of Cianjur Regency ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. In ...

. SPH has five campuses in Lippo Village, Tangerang for Early Childhood to Grade 12, Sentul City, Bogor for Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12, Lippo Cikarang for Early Childhood to Grade 12, Kemang Village, South Jakarta for Early Childhood to Grade 12, and Pluit Village for Early Childhood to Grade 10. SPH is one of Indonesia's most expensive schools.

History

In 1993, SPH was founded by billionaires Johannes Oentoro and Dr. James T. Riady, the Lippo Village campus was the first SPH campus followed by campuses in Sentul City in 1994 and Lippo Cikarang in 1995. Kemang Village and Pluit Village campuses opened in 2011 and 2014 respectively.

Notable alumni

Agnes Monica - known as Agnez Mo, Indonesian singer Claudia Natasia - Author Moorissa Tjokro - Roboticist and Engineer

Controversies

Over the last few years, the school has faced numerous controversies. In late 2016, the school's administration was accused of underpaying its native Indonesian teachers as well as racial discrimination against its local staff, which led to the exit of twelve of its Senior School teachers. In the same year, the school's discriminatory policies were exemplified when the administration intervened in the Student Council elections by not permitting a non-Christian student to serve as its president. In 2017, its former Senior School Principal, James Anderson, was accused by several students and staff of inappropriate behavior and conduct in the workplace. Amidst scandals, Anderson left the school under mysterious circumstances. Furthermore, the head of school Phillip Nash was widely condemned for threatening legal action against the school's student newspaper Voice SPH if they would run a piece covering the scandal surrounding Anderson's departure. In 2018, the school's founder, James Riady, who was earlier indicted by the federal government of the United States for campaign finance violations to the Democratic Party, was charged by the Indonesian government for a corruption scandal worth nearly $21 billion. Most recently in 2020, the school fired fourteen native Indonesian staff members without compensation, most of whom have worked for the school for over a decade, highlighting its decades-long history of discriminatory work policies and inappropriate conduct.

References

3 https://indonesiaexpat.id/news/kpk-raids-james-riady-home/

External links

* {{International schools in Jakarta Schools in Jakarta Christian schools in Indonesia Educational institutions established in 1993 1993 establishments in Indonesia