City offers free tuition for SMP 56 students
Damar Harsanto and Evi Mariani, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration has again offered students at the disputed SMP 56 junior high school in Melawai, South Jakarta, the opportunity to transfer to and attend the state junior high school of their choice at no cost.
"These students said they did not have the money to pay tuition fees (so they enrolled at SMP 56 for free). We are still offering them the opportunity to move to any state junior high school for free," Governor Sutiyoso said at City Hall on Tuesday.
At least 40 junior high school students began the new school year at SMP 56 on Monday. The school's management is being funded by non-governmental organization Government Watch, which has provided free books and school uniforms to the students.
Sutiyoso reiterated that his administration would not recognize the school.
"The problem is actually not about free education for students, but it is that the school fails to meet the standards required by the law .... It is impossible for us to give recognition to the school," the governor said.
He warned that the students and their parents would be the ones affected if the administration was forced to step in and vacate the school.
"We cannot simply allow this problem to continue since we are obliged to hand over the school to PT Tata Disantara, which has already turned over its assets as part of a swap deal," he said.
Sutiyoso was referring to a controversial land swap deal signed in 2000 between the Ministry of National Education and developer Tata Disantara, which is owned by businessman and former manpower minister Abdul Latief.
The deal involves Tata Disantara handing over two buildings in Jeruk Purut and Bintaro, both in South Jakarta, in exchange for the SMP 56 building in Melawai.
For the last three years, the administration has been using the Jeruk Purut building to house the new SMP 56 school and the Bintaro building to house the SMA 87 school. However, some parents and teachers at SMP 56 in Melawai protested the deal and refused to move to Jeruk Purut.
Those parents and teachers filed a civil lawsuit with the South Jakarta District Court, but the court rejected the suit. They are now awaiting a ruling by the Jakarta State Administrative High Court on their appeal.
The National Commission for Child Protection has attempted to mediate in the dispute but to no avail.
The dispute became uglier when the administration reported a teacher at SMP 56 Melawai, Nurlaila, to the police for conducting illegal educational activities, while the school reported several city officials to the police for intimidation and negligence.
Detectives from the Jakarta Police continued their questioning of Nurlaila on Tuesday as a suspect on at least three charges: teaching without a permit, document forgery and unlawful entry.