Indonesia

Regulation 31/2014 rebuilt the sector. By 31 December 2014, every international and “national plus” school in Indonesia had to convert to an SPK (Satuan Pendidikan Kerjasama — “cooperative education unit”). Independent international schools are prohibited, no school may use the word “international” in its name — hence Jakarta Intercultural School and Surabaya Intercultural School — and each SPK must partner with a domestic institution or an accredited foreign education institution. ↗

The scale: 425-500+ schools. The Indonesian SPK School Association (PSSI), established 2015, counts 425 member schools; other counts put SPK schools above 500 nationwide. There is no live public registry figure, so treat both as the best available rather than exact. ↗

SPK status carries real obligations. SPK schools must teach Indonesian civics, history, religion and language; Indonesian-citizen students sit national examinations at Grades 9 and 12 (foreign students are exempt); and foreign educators are capped at 70 per cent of teaching staff. The international curriculum your child follows sits inside an Indonesian legal wrapper — that is the design, not a loophole. ↗

Every school is a yayasan. Indonesian international schools operate as non-profit foundations. German School Jakarta states it plainly: as a yayasan-run school it is “legally prohibited from making a profit”, with tuition funding education, teacher development and facilities. The frame does not make schools cheap — Jakarta’s premium tier is among Asia’s most expensive — but it does mean no shareholder extraction of the kind parents debate in for-profit markets. ↗

Foreign children need the right permit to enrol. Visa agencies and schools agree: a student KITAS (E31, school-sponsored) or a dependent KITAS (E31E, tied to a parent’s KITAS) is required for official enrolment. Tourist visas and C1/C12/D12 visit visas are not valid, and each child needs their own individual permit. ↗

The school is the sponsor. For a student KITAS the school acts as immigration sponsor — guarantee letter, MoE operational licence, sponsor registration. Bali Island School’s handbook requires every student to document legal status and states the school sponsors a student KITAS when parents cannot provide one. Start processing 4-8 weeks before the school year, and note: a student KITAS does not cover parents, who need their own visas. ↗

The long-stay options are capital-heavy. The Second Home Visa runs 5-10 years but requires roughly EUR 120,000 held in an Indonesian bank account (low-confidence, 2026 visa-blog figure — confirm with a licensed agent); the common B211A social/cultural visa lasts 60 days extendable to 180 and generally cannot be converted in-country to a KITAS. Rules and enforcement change frequently — the established schools are the most reliable first source. ↗

• Jakarta Intercultural School: tuition to IDR 432,800,000 (Grades 9-12), an annual capital fee of IDR 56,000,000 and an annual enrolment fee of IDR 22-27,000,000 — an all-in high-school year of IDR 510,800,000, before a one-time EAL fee of IDR 52,200,000 or bus fees up to IDR 78,750,000. ↗
• British School Jakarta (2026/27): IDR 158,518,000 (early years, levy included) to IDR 561,064,000 (Grade 12). ↗
• Green School Bali (SY25-26, official schedule): IDR 177,800,000-319,030,000, plus IDR 40,000,000 in application-and-registration fees and a refundable IDR 30,000,000 deposit — forfeited if you withdraw inside the 12-month minimum enrolment. ↗
• Bali Island School (Sanur, 2026-27): US$4,300-18,500 inclusive of capital levy — note the US-dollar billing inside a rupiah economy, and the IB exam fees of US$185 per exam on top. ↗

The spread is enormous. Jakarta’s market guide tiers run from budget bilingual schools at IDR 50-150M to the premium tier at IDR 300-630M; Bali’s value schools start near US$1,250 a year. Currency, levy structure and what “tuition” includes vary so much that annualised all-in comparison is the only honest method. ↗

Jakarta is a corporate market. Demand tracks expat postings; the premium schools sit in the South Jakarta corridor (Pondok Indah, Kemang, Cilandak) or, in BSJ’s case, an 18-hectare estate in Bintaro that trades commute pain for campus scale. Waiting lists of 12-18 months are reported for nursery and early primary at the most sought-after schools. ↗

Bali is a lifestyle market. Many Green School families moved to the island for the school; the school runs an on-campus co-working space for remote-working parents. The same SPK and KITAS rules apply — but the buyer is often a location-independent family, not a posted executive, which changes everything from fee tolerance to how long families stay. ↗

Surabaya and Bandung are quieter but real. Surabaya’s bench includes Surabaya Intercultural School (founded 1971 as the American Consulate School, non-profit, WASC-accredited), Sekolah Ciputra (one of the world’s first IB continuum schools) and Surabaya European School (Cambridge to A Level, SPK-registered). Bandung Alliance Intercultural School serves West Java as a non-profit, accredited option. Fees in both cities price below Jakarta’s premium tier; we have not verified 2026-27 schedules first-party yet. ↗

Every figure above traces to our research dossiers. Primary sources: the Regulation 31/2014 analysis, school-official schedules and handbooks (Green School, Bali Island School, German School Jakarta), and academic work on the SPK sector. Aggregator fee tables are graded medium confidence; visa rules change often — confirm with the school and a licensed agent.

Fees and policies expire. This page was researched on 2 September 2026 and is re-verified each academic year — see our research standard, browse the school directory as profiles open, and use corrections if you spot something stale.