Disabled people condemn school policy

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.