Strengthening School Management through Strategic Interventions to Enhance Student Recruitment Capacity

Muhammadiyah 2 Junior High School in Rejang Lebong Regency has struggled with low interest from prospective students during new student admission, which poses a management challenge. This program aimed to strengthen the school's capacity for promotion, outreach, and building public trust. The program used a field-based descriptive qualitative approach. Participants included the principal, vice principal for student affairs, public relations team, six admission committee teachers, and fifteen senior students. The intervention ran for four months (February–May 2024). Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation. Assessment relied on observable indicators: the availability of an admission SOP, the number of promotional materials, the frequency of outreach, and stakeholder participation. The university team provided public relations training, mentoring on work plans and SOPs, and promotional templates. The school then formed a five-member admission committee, produced three types of materials (brochures, banners, and 24 Instagram posts), and carried out eight community outreach activities with three nearby mosques. The results show strengthened institutional capacity, as indicated by a structured committee with clear roles, outreach that grew from two to eight activities, and the active involvement of ten teachers and fifteen students. However, the results reflect improvements in capacity and promotional practices rather than a statistically measurable increase in enrollment, because enrollment data were not yet available. Continued implementation and evaluation are needed to assess the impact on future enrollment.