Ideas on uniforms welcomed

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso on Wednesday welcomed a recommendation from two city councilors that students should change out of their uniforms into regular clothes after classes in an attempt to curb the growing number of student brawls.

The governor, who referred to the councilors' suggestion as "a good idea", planned to discuss the thought further with officials from the city office of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

"I'll consider the recommendation and whether it could really solve the problem of the student brawls," he told the media.

According to Sutiyoso, the escalating number of student fights on the streets here has worsened the face of the capital which has already been rocked by riots, crimes and protests.

A day earlier, councilors Agus Waluyo and Sulaiman S.B. Ismaya suggested that the school authorities encourage their students to change their uniforms for mufti after classes as the uniforms have proved a principal factor causing the street brawls which colored the city almost every day.

When contacted again on Wednesday, Agus added that if the idea could be adopted, the city administration should bring back its yellow school buses to the streets again to accommodate the plainclothes students.

The councilor also urged the authorities to deploy the fleet of 10 buses -- used everyday to transport the city administration staff back and forth to City Hall -- for the students' transportation.

Agus worried that the absence of the school buses and the city staff buses would create another problem for the students.

"On the regular buses, students without their uniforms could be asked by conductors to pay the same amount as the regular passengers," he said.

The school buses had been taken off the street for quite a long time for unknown reasons. Many said that the city administration had to stop their operation due to their ineffectiveness.

The 10 buses for the city staff have been left unused during midday hours.

"So it's possible to use them to carry the students," Agus said.

The tariff for students is Rp 100 (one US cent) per person for any buses to any destination, compared to Rp 500 for minibuses and Rp 300 for buses for regular passengers.

Asked to comment on Agus' idea, Sutiyoso said: "If it can solve the problem, I won't object."

The governor added that he would join the line of people who wanted the students involved in brawls to be punished in accordance with the existing laws.

"Even though they are students, they should also obey the laws.

If they're found guilty, they should be punished too," he said.

The lack of strict law enforcement against the students, he said, would only lead to more street brawls in the capital. (ind)