Brief Description about SMA St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta

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1. The Background of the English Course Held by SMA St. Fransiskus 1

Jakarta This background serves as general information about the situation in which the English course has been conducting its process. It gives general information on SMA St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta and the viewpoint of the chairperson of Yayasan St. Fransiskus Jakarta on the importance of the English course. This background is important to give a point of view in perceiving the course participants’ expectation on the English course.

a. Brief Description about SMA St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta

Sekolah Menengah Atas St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta abbreviated to SMA St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta is a Senior High school which is run by the Order of Friars Minor where the writer belongs to as its member. The school situates in Jalan Kramat Raya 67, Jakarta Pusat. As it is stated in “Sejarah Singkat Yayasan Santo Fransiskus ” The Short History of Santo Fransiskus Foundation, see Appendix F, p. 132, back to 1948, the Order run two schools, well known as Sekolah Rakyat, dedicated for drop-out children who could not continue their study due to the unstable political climate. The ultimate purpose of the development of the school was to serve those children good education which was sufficient enough for their future lives. Supported by some government policies on education, SMA St. Fransiskus was founded in Jalan Kramat Raya 134, occupying the land of Hati Kudus Parish, also run by OFM. Alongside with the overhauling process of the old building in Jalan Kramat Raya 67, the school then moved to the new building. 45 Due to the opening of the new class branch of SMA St. Fransiskus situated in Kampung Ambon Jakarta Timur, the Senior High School expanded later on into SMA St. Fransiskus 1 and SMA St. Fransiskus 2. According to the school’s statistic data in the academic year of 2014-2015 see appendix G, p. 146, the total number of the students was 51 students. Those students were classified into three grades, in which grade 10 had 14 students, grade 11 had 16 students and grade 12 had 24 students. It can be concluded that the number of the students was decreasing each year. A discussion the writer made with the chairperson of the foundation about this phenomena concluded that the lack of facilities the school has and the rapid competition with fully-facilitated newer schools as the causes of this number reduction. The discussion also concluded that in order to gain more students enrol at this school, the school must have something special to offer to the candidates. An English course was thought to be one of the tools the foundation is going to conduct to gain more students.

b. The Testimony of the Chairperson of Yayasan Santo Fransiskus