117 students arrested on graduation day

117 students arrested on graduation day

JAKARTA (JP): Laughter, tears and even brawls, which led to
the arrest of 117 students, colored graduation day of senior high
school students here yesterday.

One of the brawls occurred on Jl. Budi Utomo, in Sawah Besar,
Central Jakarta, when students from four schools -- senior high
school SMUN 1, technical senior high schools STM 1 and STM 5 and
private technical high school STM PGRI 5 -- celebrated their
graduation.

Sawah Besar Police Chief Maj. Iriawan said 98 students were
arrested for stoning police officers who tried to disperse the
brawling crowd on Jl. Budi Utomo.

Nineteen other students from two private technical senior high
schools in Cawang, East Jakarta, were arrested and brought to
City Police Headquarters for stoning each other.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the students
had disturbed public safety.

Iriawan said, "We confiscated sharp weapons, including two
machetes, three knives, and several belts with bicycle cogwheels
on the buckles, which were dumped by the students."

He said police seized two samurai swords from two of the
arrested students, identified as Nanda and Yusman.

Police had been looking for Nanda, a second-grade student from
one of the four schools, for several robberies in Central
Jakarta, Iriawan said.

Witnesses said the brawl occurred when hundreds of students
gathered in front of their schools, celebrating graduation by
spray-painting their clothes and hair and sitting on top of their
cars.

Teachers asked the students to go home, saying that the
results of examinations would be mailed to their homes.

But students ignored the request, yelling and starting to
fight with each other.

Police, who came to disperse the crowd, were stoned by
students.

Some police motorcycles were also pushed down by students, a
police officer said.

Another brawl erupted in Lebak Bulus between students from two
private senior high schools.

Military and police officers managed to contain the brawl
between students of the Triguna and Yayasan Pendidikan Mulia
schools.

Witnesses said a few sustained minor injuries in the brawl,
one of several brawls that have occurred this the year.

One student said he was forced to surrender his watch to a
youth who, claiming to be from Triguna, pointed a knife at him.

Tears marked the graduation of SMUN 6, where nine students
failed to graduate. In one of the classes three failed.

Their friends said they were surprised because those who
failed were among the 10 highest-ranking students at the school.

The vice headmaster of SMU 6, Budi Prayitno, said the new
curricula had affected student performance this year.

Graduation was announced simultaneously yesterday at 10:00
a.m. at all secondary schools across Jakarta, said the head of
city office of secondary schools for the Ministry of Education
and Culture, Abdul Rohim.

The amount of students who took the mandatory final
examination was 135,312 -- 70,662 were from general high schools
and 64,650 were from vocational and technical schools, Abdul
said.

Teachers and students seemed optimistic of students' futures.

Suradi, a teacher at SMA 8 in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta said
at least 60 percent of graduates will continue their studies at
various state universities.

Some students said they would not take part in the entrance
test for state universities because of tight competition.

"I am going to take a security guard course in Bandung," Paul,
a graduate of a school in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta said, adding
that his uncle had guaranteed him a job as a security guard.

A girl, Mia, said her father had agreed to pay her way through
college. She said she hoped to study at Perbanas, a private
banking college, if she failed entrance tests to state
universities. "I know there's a lot of competition," she said.

Chairul, another graduate, also said he hoped to go to
Perbanas. His father, a civil servant with the Agency for
Technology Assessment and Application, had said that he should
not immediately seek a job.

Betty, another graduate, said she would apply to the Jakarta
Art Institute's School of Graphic Design. "It would make it
easier to find a job in the future," she added.

Budi, whose hair was painted red and green, said,
"Universities? Not now. We just want to celebrate our
graduation." (jun/anr/10/03)