Education vs. business

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.