44 students remain at Melawai as deadline expires
Bambang Nurbianto/Damar Harsanto, Jakarta
As of the deadline on Wednesday, 44 first-year students of state middle school SMP 56 had stayed behind in a last-ditch effort to keep their school on Jl. Melawai Raya, South Jakarta.
"We're here to continue the fight ... the students themselves want to stay," said Nurlela, the sole civil servant teacher -- aside from the 13 temporary teachers on honorarium pay -- who is resisting the government's order to move to the new SMP 56 on Jl. Jeruk Purut, in East Cilandak, South Jakarta.
East Cilandak is located off Jl. Ampera Raya, just before it intersects the Outer Ring Road.
Dozens of SMP 56 alumni had also gathered at the school on Wednesday.
Lies Sugeng, coordinator of the school's advocacy team, said 53 students remained as of Wednesday, but three were sick and six others were absent. She said 65 students were still at the school before public order officers and policemen locked the school gate on April 18.
The Jakarta administration had given a Wednesday deadline for all students to evacuate the premises or otherwise lose their formal academic recognition, and offered free enrollment fees and tuition for an entire academic year as an incentive.
Meanwhile, the students are in the midst of preparations for the nationwide final exams from June 21 to June 26.
Jakarta Basic Education Agency records show that 17 SMP 56 students had reenrolled at a number of other schools since April 15.
"Ten parents have enrolled their children at SMP 12, and seven others at other schools, including the Jeruk Purut SMP 56," said a teacher at SMP 12 on Jl. Wijaya, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The city administration has set up a re-enrollment service at SMP 12 specifically for SMP 56 students to facilitate their transfer.
Two Saturdays ago, the administration sealed the Melawai school in order to fulfill its side of a land swap deal with PT Tata Disantara, owned by former manpower minister Abdul Latief and owner of nearby Pasaraya Grande department store.
After several days of classes conducted in the school's parking lot, two legislators of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) broke the lock and reopened the school.
Head of the city's legal office Deded Sukandar said on Wednesday that Governor Sutiyoso had reported Nurlela and other teachers to the police last Saturday "for conducting educational activities without licensure".
The 2003 Education Law carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment and/or a Rp 1 billion (US$117,647) fine for the charge.
The administration's legal representation consists of veteran lawyers Adnan Buyung Nasution and Yan Juanda Saputra.
Separately, former SMP 56 teachers, students and parents at the new Jeruk Purut facility and the new state high school SMA 87 in Bintaro, South Jakarta, approached House of Representatives members and presented their demand to stop the continuing dispute over the land swap deal, which was made between the Ministry of National Education and the developer in 2000.
The two new schools were constructed by PT Tata as its part of the deal.
Endang Suryadi, a parent, addressed House Commission VI that oversees community welfare and expressed his fears that the dispute, which now involved only a few students, might affect learning activities at the two new schools.
The Melawai SMP 56 originally had a student body of about 900 students.