Junior Secondary School Teacher in Sabu Raijua Faces One-Year Promotion Delay Over Classroom Embrace Video
The Education Department (Disdik) of Sabu Raijua, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), has imposed a one-year promotion delay on Rusly Lingu Djara (34), a teacher at SMP Negeri 2 Sabu Timur, after a video of him hugging and kissing a student in a classroom went viral on social media.
Head of the Sabu Raijua Education Department Yoel Riwu stated that the disciplinary action was taken after a specialist team from the department conducted an investigation and examined multiple parties, including the teacher himself.
“After the specialist team worked and gathered statements, including examining and requesting clarification from teacher Rusly, our department made a decision to impose disciplinary sanctions on teacher Rusly in the form of a one-year delay in promotion,” Yoel Riwu said on Tuesday, 10 March 2026.
According to Yoel, the sanction references Government Regulation (PP) No. 53 of 2010 concerning Civil Service Discipline. “The disciplinary sanction for teacher Rusly is in accordance with Government Regulation No. 53 of 2010 on Civil Service Discipline, Article 7, point 3, letter b,” he explained.
Yoel considered Rusly’s actions inappropriate, as he had created video content showing him hugging and kissing a male student in a classroom. “The violation and actions by teacher Rusly are considered highly inappropriate, with the creation of video content showing him kissing and tightly embracing a male student inside a classroom,” he continued.
However, Yoel noted that there were no complaints from the student’s parents regarding the incident. “There was no report from parents. But such conduct is not appropriate for a teacher to engage in,” Yoel said.
Yoel added that Rusly is a civil servant teacher who teaches Natural Sciences (IPA). “He is a science teacher,” Yoel concluded.
When confronted with the viral video on social media, Rusly expressed shock and stated that the posting did not accurately portray him. “When I first saw the post on Instagram, I was frankly shocked, because the video went viral and was described as wrong,” Rusly said via telephone on Wednesday, 4 June 2026.
He explained that the video was recorded after school hours and that one of the students in it was his adopted child. “I am very close with these children because I am an extracurricular activities supervisor. Because of this, I often work with the children to fundraise for student organisation activities, and they regularly visit my home,” he stated.
Rusly also emphasised that he never claimed the behaviour in the video was part of local custom or culture. “I always tell the children that if they want to come to my house, they must have permission from their parents. I never said that what I did was Sabu custom,” he added.