Disabled people condemn school policy<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Muhammad Arif Budiman, 16, was relieved upon finding out on
\nMonday that his blindness would not prevent him from enrolling in
\nthe state high school of his choice: SMA 46 in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Officials at the Jakarta Secondary and Higher Education Agency
\napologized on Monday for what they termed was "unintended
\ndiscrimination" and quickly put the blame on a staffer who
\nuploaded the unapproved draft of a new admission requirement onto
\nthe agency's website.<\/p>\n
"We apologize to the disabled. We merely uploaded it to
\nprovide advance information to students and their parents. After
\nwe realized that it had offended some people, we dropped the
\narticle on the banning of disabled people," said the head of the
\nEducation Standardization Development Section, Ujang Arifin.<\/p>\n
"Now, every student can choose whatever high school he or she
\nwants to enroll in based solely on their national examination
\nresults," he added.<\/p>\n
Rumors had circulated among disabled people in Jakarta last
\nweek that the agency had instituted a new rule banning them from
\nstate high schools other than special ones.<\/p>\n
Determined to take a stand against discrimination, Arif, along
\nwith dozens of activists from the Indonesian Committee for
\nAdvocacy on Behalf of People with Different Abilities (KAPCI),
\nstaged a protest at the education agency's office on Monday.<\/p>\n
While the apology appeared to be accepted, the problem may not
\nhave gone away.<\/p>\n
Ujang Arifin said that the additional article was meant to
\nencourage disabled students to enroll in special schools or
\nintegrated public and vocational schools -- which provide
\nspecially qualified teachers.<\/p>\n
"Not all schools employ special teachers to help disabled
\nstudents," Ujang said.<\/p>\n
The head of the agency, Margani Mustar, told The Jakarta Post
\nthat the controversy over the article in question was due to a
\nmisinterpretation.<\/p>\n
"The requirement does not mean that students who are disabled are
\nnot allowed to enroll in public schools. It means that we think
\nthat those who have disabilities might have difficulties studying
\nin public schools. They should go to schools that are specially
\ndesigned for them," he argued.<\/p>\n
The city has five high schools and five vocational ones that
\nprovide special teachers and facilities for the disabled, such as
\nramps for people in wheelchairs.<\/p>\n
These high schools are SMUN 5 in Central Jakarta, SMUN 54
\n(East Jakarta), SMUN 40 (North Jakarta), SMUN 66 (South Jakarta),
\nand SMUN 12 (West Jakarta). The vocational schools are SMK 27 in
\nCentral Jakarta, SMK 33 (North Jakarta), SMK 13 (West Jakarta),
\nSMK 30 (South Jakarta), and SMK 58 (East Jakarta).<\/p>\n
Indonesian Association of Disabled People president Siswadi
\nsaid that enrolling disabled people in public schools was
\nimportant as the 1,350 special schools nationwide did not have
\nenough space for the 1.5 million school-age disabled children.<\/p>\n
There were currently only 6,300 disabled students studying at
\nschool, Siswadi said, "because they might have to walk to special
\nschools 10 kilometers away from home, while many public schools
\nare nearby".<\/p>\n
KAPCI chairman Fikri Thalib expressed skepticism over the
\nofficial statements, adding that his organization would continue
\nto monitor what was happening on the ground.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/disabled-people-condemn-school-policy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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