Bandung (Pikiran Rakyat: (14/03/07) Students from United World College (UWC) Hong Kong admire the waste management system involving students of State Senior High School  SMAN 11 Bandung. UWC students who are in a one-week visit in Bandung for a comparative study and learn the local cultural and environment in Bandung are staying SMAN 11 Students’ houses. Speaking after receiving a Sundanese welcome ceremony at the SMAN 11 Bandung on Monday (03/12), UWC school principle, John Green, said he was impressed with the splendid welcome. 

According to John Green, UWC school in Hong Kong only has two classes, grade XI and grade XII, with the students coming from many nations. Students from the United States and Europe has to pay tuition fee, but students from developing countries get scholarships.Two out of the 12 UWC students visiting Bandung came from Timor Leste with scholarships. “We also open the opportunity for Indonesian students to study in UWC Hong Kong with scholarships. For further Information, please contact Eddy Henry at the Sampoerna Foundation (SF) in Jakarta,” he said.

The principal of SMAN 11 Bandung, Drs. H. Teddy Hidayat, M.Pd. said his school want to be a green school. To manage the waste, SMAN 11 Bandung provides three different trash cans for papers, organic and inorganic wastes. Organic waste like leaves will be cut into pieces and kept in a tube for composting. The composting process takes 21 days. Meanwhile, inorganic waste like plastic, bottle and papers are gathered by Student’s Executive Board OSIS to be sold to dealer. OSIS raise funds to support its activities from this waste management. Papers are also turned to pulp to become the material of handicraft.

Students of SMAN 11 Bandung also disseminate their waste management system to the community and other schools, Elementary School, Junior High School and Senior High School. “The environment around the school is the responsibility of the SMAN 11; thus waste should be handled properly,” he added. Head of the School Committee, Ir. H. Zulkarnaen, said that 2 out of 12 UWC students stay in his home for a week from March 11 to 17. Those two students are Juli from Malaysia and Andora from Hong Kong. Their ‘adopted parents’ had taken them around touring Dalem Kaum trade centre. Juli said that she was impressed with local people’s hospitality. “I have a friend who has visited Bandung previously, and said that the city was beautiful and the people are friendly,” she said.