Disabled people condemn school policy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muhammad Arif Budiman, 16, was relieved upon finding out on Monday that his blindness would not prevent him from enrolling in the state high school of his choice: SMA 46 in South Jakarta.

Officials at the Jakarta Secondary and Higher Education Agency apologized on Monday for what they termed was "unintended discrimination" and quickly put the blame on a staffer who uploaded the unapproved draft of a new admission requirement onto the agency's website.

"We apologize to the disabled. We merely uploaded it to provide advance information to students and their parents. After we realized that it had offended some people, we dropped the article on the banning of disabled people," said the head of the Education Standardization Development Section, Ujang Arifin.

"Now, every student can choose whatever high school he or she wants to enroll in based solely on their national examination results," he added.

Rumors had circulated among disabled people in Jakarta last week that the agency had instituted a new rule banning them from state high schools other than special ones.

Determined to take a stand against discrimination, Arif, along with dozens of activists from the Indonesian Committee for Advocacy on Behalf of People with Different Abilities (KAPCI), staged a protest at the education agency's office on Monday.

While the apology appeared to be accepted, the problem may not have gone away.

Ujang Arifin said that the additional article was meant to encourage disabled students to enroll in special schools or integrated public and vocational schools -- which provide specially qualified teachers.

"Not all schools employ special teachers to help disabled students," Ujang said.

The head of the agency, Margani Mustar, told The Jakarta Post that the controversy over the article in question was due to a misinterpretation.

"The requirement does not mean that students who are disabled are not allowed to enroll in public schools. It means that we think that those who have disabilities might have difficulties studying in public schools. They should go to schools that are specially designed for them," he argued.

The city has five high schools and five vocational ones that provide special teachers and facilities for the disabled, such as ramps for people in wheelchairs.

These high schools are SMUN 5 in Central Jakarta, SMUN 54 (East Jakarta), SMUN 40 (North Jakarta), SMUN 66 (South Jakarta), and SMUN 12 (West Jakarta). The vocational schools are SMK 27 in Central Jakarta, SMK 33 (North Jakarta), SMK 13 (West Jakarta), SMK 30 (South Jakarta), and SMK 58 (East Jakarta).

Indonesian Association of Disabled People president Siswadi said that enrolling disabled people in public schools was important as the 1,350 special schools nationwide did not have enough space for the 1.5 million school-age disabled children.

There were currently only 6,300 disabled students studying at school, Siswadi said, "because they might have to walk to special schools 10 kilometers away from home, while many public schools are nearby".

KAPCI chairman Fikri Thalib expressed skepticism over the official statements, adding that his organization would continue to monitor what was happening on the ground.