Almost Six Months After the Flash Flood in Sumatra, SMA 2 Meureudu in Aceh is Still Covered in Mud

A distressing situation continues to plague areas affected by the flash floods that hit Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra in late November 2025.

As observed by Media Indonesia on Thursday (May 14, 2026), the dire conditions are evident at SMA 2 Meureudu, Pidie Jaya Regency, Aceh. Piles of mud, ranging from 1 to 1.5 meters high, still cover the school grounds. Dozens of classrooms, teachers’ offices, the library, and even the laboratory remain submerged in mud, almost reaching the window sills.

Due to the flood debris that has not been cleared for almost six months, access to the classrooms is completely blocked. Various learning tools, such as desks, chairs, and cabinets, are buried inside the rooms. The school grounds are now overgrown with weeds on top of the mud piles, which are almost as high as the building’s roof.

Muttaqin Mansur, a community leader and Professor of Law at Syiah Kuala University (USK), expressed deep concern during a visit to the site. He fears for the future of the local younger generation’s education, which is now threatened.

“Students still have to study in makeshift tents that are hot and cramped. How difficult their suffering must be. I would feel guilty if education here were to decline, considering the history of this school’s construction, which was carried out through community fundraising,” said Muttaqin.

Currently, learning activities are being conducted in several makeshift classrooms with plywood walls and corrugated iron roofs, with very limited air circulation. These inadequate facilities make it difficult for students to concentrate and lose motivation to learn.

M. Adli Abdullah, a cultural expert from Syiah Kuala University (USK), believes that claims of successful recovery after the Sumatra disaster are “far from reality.” According to him, many vital infrastructures, such as schools, Islamic boarding schools, mosques, and residents’ homes, have not been properly repaired since the disaster at the end of 2025.

“Such neglect will lead to prolonged poverty. Do not give false hope to the victims if it ultimately leads to a greater social disaster in the future,” Adli Abdullah emphasized. (H-3)