Education vs. business

The 2001 land swap deal between the Ministry of National Education and PT Tata Disantara, a company controlled by former manpower minister Abdul Latief, involving SMP (state junior high school) 56 is turning into a major dispute.

Under the deal, the ministry agreed to move the school to the former Al Azhar school building in Jeruk Purut, South Jakarta. The company, for its part, agreed to provide the ministry with another plot of land in Bintaro, also in South Jakarta. But all of these arrangements failed to resolve the dispute or put an end to the protests against the deal.

But the deal was signed. That is the fact. However, the reason why the deal had to go through at all costs is a question that no one, including the minister of national education or Governor Sutiyoso, has explained.

According to the government, the school had to be moved because its location was no longer suitable for educational activities, and rumor had it that the area around the school was being used as an illicit drug market.

Then, in 1990, South Jakarta mayor Harun Al-Rasyid issued a decree stipulating that the area around the school was prone to crime. Since then businesspeople have been showing interest in taking over the 4,650-square-meter plot where the school building stands.

It is somewhat strange that the mayoralty chose to deal with the problem with a land swap deal rather than asking the police to put an end to drug dealing in the area. After all, there are other schools in the area that have never experienced the same harassment.

This is the reason why some teachers and parents assume the swap deal is spiced up with irregularities.

The protesters filed a suit with the South Jakarta District Court arguing that the land swap was irregular, but the lawsuit was dismissed. The protesters filed an appeal with the Jakarta High Court, which has yet to issue a decision. So, legally, the case is not finished.

Things became worse during the enrollment of new students in 2003. Officially, the registration was moved to Jeruk Purut. However, some students registered at the SMP 56 building on Jl. Melawai. Now, most of those who registered at Jl. Melawai have refused to move to Jeruk Purut.

In a bid to resolve the dispute, the House of Representatives sent a letter to Governor Sutiyoso, asking the governor to allow the legal process to run its course and to refrain from taking any action against the school or interfering in student activities while awaiting the Jakarta High Court's decision.

On March 2, 2004, the House of Representatives issued another letter to the minister of national education and the Jakarta governor, asking them to respect the education process at SMP 56.

As usual, things went poorly. In April 2004, the Jakarta administration ordered the school vacated and closed to all activities, forcing its 64 students to study on the sidewalk.

Last Thursday, House members from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) forced open the school's gate in protest of the administration's decision to close the school, which they called illegal.

Sutiyoso, however, remained firm in his stance that the land swap was legal, and said the forceful opening of the gate was a regrettable act. He said, however, that he would make no move against the school until a court decision has been issued.

The students have been allowed back into their classrooms, but the problem has yet to be resolved and there is still no answer to the mystery behind the land swap.

There are plenty of rumors that business interests pushed through the deal, given that the agreement stipulated the market price for land in the area (Jl. Melawai Raya) was Rp 2,573,000 per square meter in 2003 while, according to the non-governmental organization Government Watch, land cost as much as Rp 9,654,000 per square meter along that street in 2003.

The Jakarta administration's offer to allow the SMP 56 students to attend any school they wished in South Jakarta was made after waves of protest by the school's teachers, students and parents.

There have been no reports on whether the area around SMP 56 is still the scene for the selling and buying of drugs or if the police have dealt with that problem. And assuming that it is true the area is no longer suitable for educational activities, then why did the mayoralty not suggest similar land swaps for other schools in the area?

The public belief is that many state schools are targets of investors eager to make business deals with venal government officials. It would be impossible for businesspeople to approach the PSKD school that is near SMP 56 with a similar deal. The PSKD school, it should be noted, is run by a Christian organization.

In any case, now that the situation has returned to the status quo, those involved in the dispute should refrain from taking any destructive actions. The interests of the students must be given the highest priority. Any actions exploiting the students must be avoided.

As the swap deal has resulted in speculation of dirty dealings, government institutions, such as the Ministry of National Education and the Jakarta administration, must learn a very expensive lesson from this episode.

In all this, though, the unfortunate lesson we can all draw is that, in the eyes of many among us who are blessed with either money or power, education is less important than business. That is the lamentable fact that this nation must somehow accept. Little wonder the state has for so long failed to improve the quality of education here.