Crime creeps into school playgrounds

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Residents of Jakarta have been feeling increasingly insecure these days, with the specter of crime seemingly hanging over the entire city. This insecurity has also crept into the city's schools, where students are victimized daily by their classmates.

"It happens. Some friends of mine know about extorting other students to supplement their allowances," said Wawan Setiawan, who has been a victim himself.

Wawan, a student at SMU 26 high school in Tebet, South Jakarta, said some students carried sharp weapons in their school bags.

"They say that it is for self-defense in case there is a brawl with students from other schools," he said.

Deadly brawls between groups of students have become almost commonplace in Jakarta. Some students even think of these brawls as a tradition to be handed down to incoming students.

The most recent incident took place in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, on Jan. 21.

Fahromy Rizali, 18, a student at SMU Respati high school, died of severe injuries suffered in a bloody clash between students from his school, located on Jl. Inpres in Kramat Jati, and students from SMU Sudirman, located on Jl. Raya Bogor in Cijantung, East Jakarta.

Also alarming for both teachers and parents are recent reports of serious crimes committed by students.

Last month, different groups of armed students committed two robberies on buses in the capital.

Four students from a technical high school in Cengkareng, Tangerang, were arrested by the Kalideres Police after they robbed passengers on a Bulan Jaya bus plying the Kalideres- Balaraja route. Police confiscated knifes and machetes from the students.

On the same day, another group of students robbed passengers on a PPD bus along Jl. DI Panjaitan in Rawamangun, East Jakarta. The students managed to escape.

"I'm really concerned by these reports. Teachers are often blamed for such appalling incidents," said Waluyo Hadi, the assistant principal of vocational school SMK 16 in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

Waluyo blamed the situation on the country's educational system, which emphasizes teaching rather than educating students.

"The key to the problem is cooperation between the parents and teachers in seeking a solution to the students' problems," Waluyo said.

He also said that fixing the educational system would be difficult because most teachers were busy moonlighting, mostly teaching at other schools, to supplement their low salaries. As a result, they do not have the time to improve their professionalism or give their students proper attention.

The average teaching fee at a private school is about Rp 5,000 per hour. At a state high school the monthly salary for teachers, who are categorized as III rank civil servants, is about Rp 1.2 million.

Waluyo said he taught at three high schools in Jakarta. "But the ignorance and indifference of the parents also contributes to the deterioration of the educational system," he said.

The assistant principal of SMU 24 high school in Palmerah, Central Jakarta, Adin Sarmawan R., agreed with Waluyo, saying that many parents refused to attend meetings with teachers.

"Many times, they ask drivers or housemaids to represent them," Adin said.

When students have problems in school and the problems become unbearable, they can turn to drugs, which in turn can easily lead them to crime, said Adin.

Mahendra, a second-year student at SMU Fransiskus high school in Kramat, Central Jakarta, agreed, saying that drug addiction could be the reason why some students turn to crime.

Both Waluyo and Adin agreed that student crime should be addressed by improving the educational system. But without an integrated effort involving all parties, any attempt to fix the system is sure to fail.