HISTORY OF PRIMAGAMA

It started with only one building with 2 students. Currently Primagama has more than 500
Branches throughout Indonesia.

Primagama established by Purdie Chandra along with his friends on March 10, 1982. At the time
of establishing this institution, Purdie is still a student at 2 State Universities in Yogyakarta,
namely UGM and IKIP Yogyakarta (now UNY). However, because he felt that his business spirit
had not yet been proven he was challenged to establish a business.
Represented, he was determined to leave the world of education to engage in the business
world. Unofficially, this man born in Lampung 9 September 1959 had indeed started doing
business since he was still in junior high school in Lampung, namely when he raised chickens and
ducks, and then sold his eggs in Lampung market.
Purdie Candra's good intentions to help 3rd grade students of SMA who want to enter the PTN
level have encouraged him to establish an educational institution called Primagama. He left his
studies at UGM and IKIP Yogyakarta. Then with a capital of Rp. 300 thousand, he founded the
Primagama test guidance institution on March 10, 1982 in Yogyakarta.
The existence of tutoring institutions is getting stronger with the presence of Law Number 2 of
1989 concerning the National Education System. One of the things emphasized in Law Number 2
of 1989 is related to the responsibility for providing education, namely that basically the burden
of providing education is not only borne by the government, but also on the family and society.

The pattern of competition is quite tight in the New Student Admissions Selection (SPMB) where
the average accepted is only around 14-17% of the number of participants in the National
Universities (PTN) entrance selection test and Primagama's ability to lead the success of the
students under his guidance, makes Primagama open branches immediately get a response good
from the community. In order to provide a strong legal basis for Primagama to take part in the
world of education outside of school, in the 4th year after its establishment, the Primagama
Foundation was formed with a notarial deed of Daliso Rudianto, SH number 123 of 1985. Then
 the legal aspects of the existence of Primagama Educational Institutions became more firmly
rooted after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Education and Culture with SK No: 054/I
13/MS/Kpts/1999.
Primagama Educational Institution is the Copyright holder of the "Prima Religion Educational
Institution" based on:

1. Law no. 6 of 1982 concerning Copyright.

2. Law no. 7 of 1987 concerning Amendments to Law no. 6 of 1982 concerning Copyright on July
3, 1995 and has been registered with the Directorate of Copyright, Patents and Brands with
Registration Number 014127.

Primagama has begun to be accepted by the public. From the beginning there was only 1 outlet
with only 2 students, Primagama gradually grew until finally in 2012 it reached ± 700 branches
spread throughout Indonesia with hundreds of thousands of students every year.

Chronology
Primagama Tutoring Program has a very wide market (students 3,4,5,6 SD – 7,8,9 SMP, and
10,11,12 SMA IPA/IPS) with the educational target of improving academic achievement in schools,
School Final Exams , National Exams, and Success in the Entrance Exams for State/Favorite
Universities and official schools (for SMA/SMK).
1982 - PRIMAGAMA was founded on March 10, 1982 in Yogyakarta. Primagama's first class starts
with only 2 students.
1996 - The development of PRIMAGAMA began to be seen with the addition of 132 branches.
2000 - PRIMAGAMA's branches have again increased to 157.
2001 - The high concern of entrepreneurs in the field of education made PRIMAGAMA start its
franchise system in 2001. With this system the number of branches increased to 260
units.
2003 - The increase in the number of branches was seen significantly after the establishment of
the franchise system. In 2003, the number of branches increased by 320 branches. An
increase of 300% over the previous period.
2005 - Has 450 branches throughout Indonesia.
2007 - The number of branches again increased to 638 branches and a master franchise began
to be formed.
2009 - It has 723 branches spread throughout Indonesia.
2015 - PRIMAGAMA has 756 branches throughout Indonesia.
2015 - In 2015, PRIMAGAMA has a new management named PT Prima Edu Learning Assistant
and has reduced the number of branches to 587 units.
2017 - Number of branches: 461 spread across all provinces in Indonesia
Number of active students 90,000 a year
Number of Lecturers 8000

WHY CHOOSE PRIMAGAMA

Apart from having more than 500 branches throughout Indonesia, Primagama also has several
advantages in teaching students. Here are some reasons why choose Primagama.

SYSTEM

Primagama is the only tutoring that has the most modern and superior education service system.

INSTRUCTOR

Primagama has Smart Instructors who are reliable, master the subject matter and are able to deliver the
material in a fun style.

ACADEMIC

With experience and evidence of achievement, Primagama has a quality academic program.
SERVICE

Primagama is a tutoring service that always provides excellent service so that Primagama students
achieve optimal results.

SMART BOOK

Smart Books are prepared in accordance with the government's curriculum with presentations
that are easily understood by students.

SMART SOLUTION

Smart Solution is a learning method that makes it easier for students to understand lessons and
speed up solving problems.

In an effort to make students more enthusiastic in learning, Primagama applies the "Smart
Solution" learning method, which in its development has led to a special method of learning
Mathematics that is fun through "Magasing" and Easy Physics Learning through "Fisitaru".
MAGAZING

Learning math is easy, fun, and fun.

FISITARU

Learn to solve physics problems without using complicated formulas.

SMART CONSYS

Is a computerized system composed of several elements of an integrated student consultation

system available in the Primagama Student Service package.

CBT - UNBK

At Primagama, testing of student progress is not only carried out in the form of PBT (Paper Based
Test) but also in the format of CBT (Computer Based Test).

Problem Solving

In order to accommodate the heterogeneous demands of students' needs and at the same time
help the problems faced by students directly, starting from the 2003/2004 Academic Year, the
Primagama Educational Institute focuses its teaching orientation as a student learning companion,
with the essence of Problem Solving services.

As a Student Learning Facilitator, the implementation process of teaching includes the following:

Instructional Guidance (Learning Companion)

It is a learning mentoring and consulting program for students regarding the subject matter and
the learning process.

Educational Guidance (Educational Assistant)

Namely consultations and detailed explanations of education at a macro level, both in terms of
direction and objectives and policies

Personal Guidance (Personal Problem Solving Companion)

Aims to help students overcome students' personal problems in adjusting to aspects of personality
development, family, friendship and the environment.
 The Fall of Primagama

The life story of Purdi E Tjandra has been recorded many times and has been discussed countless
times in motivational seminars. He is the king of the tutoring business and is one of the
entrepreneurs whose career path is considered good as a motivational material for people who
are looking to start a business.

Born in Lampung, 9 September 1959, Purdi was born to a poor family, the couple Siti Wasingah
and Mujiyono who are transmigrants from Central Java. Since childhood, Purdi has helped his
parents trade because of limited funds.

When he was in junior high school, he had raised chickens and ducks. Even though he helps his
parents, Purdi doesn't forget his schooling.

Entering high school, he asked his father to be allowed to study in Yogyakarta. Because of his
thin brain, Purdi was accepted in many universities. Unmitigated, he simultaneously studied in 4
different majors, Psychology, Electrical, English Literature, and Pharmacy at Gadjah Mada
University (UGM) and IKIP Yogyakarta.

However, according to him, campus life does not provide anything to survive. Finally, Purdi
decided to swerve into entrepreneurial activities like his childhood. He gave up all of his studies,
and was not worried about dropping out.

In 1982, Purdi saw many students studying extra hard to get into college. Seen high school
children near his boarding house studying groups in order to pass Sipenmaru. A business idea
came up to help them easily work on new student admissions questions.

With a little joint venture of several fellow UGM students, Purdi founded Primagama. He sold a
motorbike for IDR 300,000, rented a small house, divided his living room in two. The tuition fee
at that time was IDR 50,000 for two months.

There is one unique trick that Purdi always conveys in entrepreneurial seminars about how to
start a business. At first he had difficulty getting tutors. However, when one of his tutors brought
a motorbike, he asked the child to invite other friends to come for free lessons as well. The
condition is that they also bring two-wheeled vehicles.

As a result, Primagama's office yard is full of motorbikes. Many other high school students were
interested in registering, because they thought the tutoring institution was followed by the
children of the rich.

Purdi's next breakthrough is implementing a money-back system if the tutor is not accepted at
 the ideal campus. Another breakthrough is the concept of secret special guidance on college
admissions exam questions.

All of these efforts have made Primagama the ruler of the tutoring business in Indonesia. In the
mid-1990s, more and more people tried to compete with Purdi, but Primagama was still flying
and became one of the prestigious tutoring centers in the country.

In its heyday, mid-2000, the turnover of the tutoring business reached Rp 600 million per month
or Rp 70 billion a year. Until 2012, Primagama branches throughout Indonesia reached 756
units. Purdi quickly hounded Primagama for turning it into a patent protected trademark, as well
as making it easier to open branches with a franchise system.

Primagama's name was changed not only to the brand of tutoring institutions, but also to media
businesses, event organizers, and books.

All of these success stories made him a role model for entrepreneurs. He briefly served as
Chairman of the Yogyakarta branch of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI)
and the administrator of the DIY Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadinda).

Purdi Tjandra also founded Entrepreneur University (EU) in 2003. One of its missions is to create
more and more entrepreneurs in this country with unique, provocative ways. Some of the EU
slogans that caught the public's attention were BODOL (Dare to be Optimistic on Other People's
Money) and ATM (Amati Imitate Modifications).

As if influenced by his life story that was disappointed by the campus, Triningsih Kusuma Astuti's
husband in his seminars often asks the public not to rely too much on schools. According to him,
being an entrepreneur doesn't need to be smart.

Now all those inspiring achievements are tarnished. Purdi got into trouble because he was late in
paying a debt of Rp 12 billion from BNI Syariah. Initially, Purdi received a credit facility in the
form of a murabahah financing agreement by BNI Syariah.

The provision of financing was carried out on August 29, 2007 in the amount of Rp. 3.3 billion
and on May 9, 2008 with the value of Rp. 20.9 billion.

However, since two years ago, the loan installment payments began to drag. Three times the
subpoena was ignored by Purdi, BNI immediately took him to the Jakarta Commercial Court.

The verdict is out. The king of tutoring was considered unable to pay his obligations, aka declared
bankrupt.

The confiscation of assets has now overshadowed Purdi's steps forward. However, so far, that
Primagama boss hasn't given up. Through his attorney, Bambang Heriarto, he filed an appeal to
the Supreme Court.
Purdi often invites his seminar participants to continue to rise when they go bankrupt. Now, until
all the problems that have wrapped around him are resolved, it is the turn of the tutor to
experience a collapse, as he usually teaches.

Sources:
https://www.primagama.co.id/about-us/history
https://www.kaskus.co.id/thread/51831b811dd719dc6f000001/sejarah-primagama/
https://forum.detik.com/kisah-ambruknya-sang-raja-bimbingan-belajar-primagama-
t720105.html

Reflection:
Which part is interesting for you?
What inspires us? What are the positive things that we can draw?
What should we avoid when we have a business?
What lesson can we take from the company?