The students in Islamic Ethics didn't know who they were about to meet.
The Year 7 kids at the SMPN 2 Babakan Madang School, outside Jakarta, waited patiently for a visit from a man who turned out to be Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Their hillside school was built with $206,000 of Australian aid money, and now teaches more than 400 children from Years seven to nine.
The SMPN 2 school was built with $206,000 of Australian aid money. Source: AAP
Mr Morrison told them a story about a boy who grew up in a school like theirs who went on to start his own business and later become President Joko Widodo.
"You can achieve anything you put your mind to in Indonesia," Mr Morrison said on Friday.
"You should feel very proud to have such a great president and to live in such a successful country."
The school is one of 2700 that Australia built over 10 years, as part of John Howard's response to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia.
The huge school building program has ended, and now Australia's aid efforts are focused on improving teaching standards and skills.
Principal Hariyani said before the school was built, local children had to travel to another school farther away in order to continue their education.
"It means saving the money, because previously they had to spend a lot of money for transportation," she told AAP through an interpreter.
A plaque marks Australia's contribution to this small hillside village community, a story repeated 2700 times around the nation of 270 million people.
Mr Morrison met President Widodo at a presidential palace on Friday afternoon.
