Outcome of SMK IDN Bogor Committee Meeting with Indonesian Ombudsman

Member of the SMK IDN Boarding School Bogor Committee, Hadi Koerniawan, expressed disappointment after meeting with representatives of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) at the RI Ombudsman Building in South Jakarta on Thursday, 2 April 2026. This is because there has been no significant development regarding the follow-up on the complaint report alleging maladministration in the issuance of the West Java Governor’s Decree on 12 March 2026. The decree contained the revocation of the operational permit for SMK IDN Boarding School Bogor.

“It is still at the stage of coordination on who is authorised to examine it,” said Hadi when met at the RI Ombudsman Building in South Jakarta on Thursday, 2 April 2026.

For approximately twenty minutes, the SMK IDN Committee met with Assistant Pratama II at the RI Ombudsman Representation for Greater Jakarta, Siska Oktaviani, on Thursday afternoon. During the meeting, Hadi said that the RI Ombudsman is still coordinating with the RI Ombudsman Representation for West Java on who is authorised to handle this case. The reason is that the location of SMK IDN is in Bogor. “The files have not yet been handed over to the Greater Jakarta Ombudsman or the West Java Ombudsman. They are still at the central Ombudsman,” he said.

However, Hadi said that the SMK IDN Committee deliberately reported to the RI Ombudsman to expedite the report. The reason is that the 12th-grade students of SMK IDN are currently registering for higher education institutions. They are worried that the diplomas issued will not be from SMK IDN, but from another school.

Hadi said that the RI Ombudsman will carry out various stages in following up on the report. Starting from verification, examination, to results. The verification process takes 14 days. The problem is that the SMK IDN Committee has already made the report since 12 March 2026. However, it has not yet entered the verification stage.

Nevertheless, Hadi said that the RI Ombudsman promised to expedite it. This afternoon or tomorrow, there will already be a decision on who will examine it.

After the examination results are out, Hadi said that the Ombudsman will convey the findings to the West Java Provincial Government. The government is given 30 days to make corrections. “If within 30 days no verification is carried out or no corrections are made, then a recommendation will be issued,” he said.

According to Hadi, the Ombudsman’s recommendations are mandatory to be implemented. The problem is that the SMK IDN Committee is racing against time until the end of April 2026. Because SMK IDN students are currently preparing for university entrance exams.

First Expert Public Relations Officer of the RI Ombudsman, Yemima Dwi Kurnia, said that coordination is currently being carried out between the Greater Jakarta Ombudsman Office and West Java. “There has been no decision yet on which representative office will follow up on the report,” she said when contacted on Thursday, 2 April 2026.

Previously, dozens of parents of SMK IDN Boarding School Bogor students visited the RI Ombudsman to follow up on the complaint report submitted on 12 March 2026. Chairman of the SMK IDN Boarding School Bogor Committee, Eko Aprianto, asked the Ombudsman to examine the alleged maladministration in the issuance of the West Java Governor’s Decree that revoked the operational permit of SMK IDN Boarding School Bogor.

This case began when several students were allegedly involved in serious violations while abroad. Some of those students were allegedly smoking and accessing pornography sites. The school then decided to drop out (DO) them in November 2025. However, the parents of the expelled students did not accept it. They then sued the school’s operational permit to the West Java Provincial Government in December 2025.

On 12 January 2026, the school committee held an audience with the Head of the Vocational Secondary School Development Division of the West Java Education Office, Edy Purwanto. In that meeting, there was a discussion regarding the plan to cancel the school’s permit. However, the Education Office promised to request a suspension of the decision until the end of the semester.

On 5 March 2026, the school received notification that the West Java Governor’s Decree Number: 188/Kep.17-DPMPTSP/2026 had been issued, signed since 19 January 2026. According to Eko, the issuance on 19 January was without any notification to the school. “The Governor’s Decree was signed on 19 January 2026, but was only delivered to the school on 5 March 2026,” he said.

According to Eko, the school had obtained an operational permit in 2023. The school also already has a National School Identification Number (NPSN). Accreditation had also been issued in the same year. However, Eko found it strange that the operational permit was challenged and revoked.

“The question is, who issued it and who revoked it? Why is the school being questioned, while the government’s supervisory role also needs to be questioned?” he said.

Quoted from Kompas, the Head of the West Java Education Office, Purwanto, said that the revocation of the school’s operational permit was not intended to stop students’ learning activities. That step was actually taken so that the students’ educational status has a clear legal basis. “The government wants to ensure that children’s educational rights in West Java are fulfilled properly and in accordance with applicable regulations,” he said at a press conference at the West Java DPMPTSP Office, Jalan Cianjur, Bandung City, on Thursday, 12 March 2026.

According to him, the decision to revoke the permit had gone through a discussion and dialogue process with the school management. On 21 January 2026, the provincial government and the school had also agreed on several steps to ensure that the students’ education process continues.