Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Education experts are relying on schools to make their own persistent efforts to obtain ISO 9001:2000 certification and meet international standards of education, a seminar revealed Thursday.

Since 2006, four high schools in Depok, West Java, and eight more in Jakarta have pioneered the path to become the first national schools which meet international standard.

The ISO 9001:2000 quality management system is derived from the ISO 9000 standard introduced in 1987 by the Geneva based International Organization for Standardization. It represents a crucial step to reach international standards of education among national schools.

Saur M. Tampubolon from the Directorate General of Management of Basic and Secondary Education at the National Education Ministry, however, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, "We have not set any deadline for national schools to achieve their international standard. We are counting on each schools' persistence in reaching their goal."

He said that within the first three years of implementation, pioneering schools must manage to get their ISO certification. Saur was speaking at a seminar on ISO 9001:2000 certification for high school institutions held at Cakra Buana private high school, one of the four pioneer high schools in Depok.

The other Depok schools to obtain ISO 9001:2000 are Lazuardi, and public high schools No. 1 and No. 2. In Jakarta, public high schools No. 78, 8, 61, 68, 70, 13, 81 and Al Azhar are the eight pioneering national high schools to meet the international standard.

At present, most public and private high schools in West Java and Jakarta are still in the category of national standard schools and/or lower.

Although ISO 9001:2000 certification is recognized as being important, Saur said, "We have not yet clearly defined its benefit. We have only expressed a general belief that certification is a means to improving the quality of education management."

"Certification must not be defined as the final goal," Saur said. "It is just one of the nine components that a school is required to meet to reach international standards."

The other components include an A accreditation from the national education accreditation agency, adaptation and adoption of international curriculums, educators qualifications, as well as standardized facilities, management and budgeting.

Meanwhile, it has recently been reported that only 80 percent of the 9,500 private and public high schools in Indonesia have met the national education standard, especially in terms of educator qualifications and improved facilities.