Principal Accused of Child Grooming Students; JPPI Reveals Alarming School Violence Data
Police are currently investigating allegations of child grooming involving a school principal, identified by the initials AMA, against female students at a vocational high school (SMK) in South Tangerey. The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) has revealed that child grooming is a classic issue regarding abuse cases in schools.
“In reality, this has long occurred conventionally within school environments. Perpetrators exploit power relations—whether as teachers, staff, or seniors—to provide special attention, gifts, or academic advantages to victims so that they feel ‘special’ and are unable to refuse when exploitation occurs,” said JPPI National Coordinator, Ubaid Matraji, when contacted on Monday (18/5/2026).
Ubaid stated that such cases are becoming more prevalent due to increasing public awareness and the courage of victims to speak out. He noted that the presence of complaint posts and ‘brave to speak’ movements has brought similar cases to the surface.
“In schools, this modus operandi is extremely dangerous because it often hides behind the guise of ‘academic closeness’ or ‘achievement guidance’. Perpetrators deliberately blur the professional boundaries between teacher and student,” Ubaid added.
According to JPPI records, cases of violence or sexual abuse in schools this year are high, even surpassing cases in university environments. Based on JPPI monitoring from January to March 2026, 233 cases of violence in educational environments were recorded. Ubaid noted that this figure indicates that violence is no longer a sporadic incident but a systemic phenomenon occurring repeatedly and widely.
JPPI data shows that school-level violence is at the highest position at approximately 71 per cent. Meanwhile, cases in higher education account for 11 per cent, Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) 9 per cent, non-formal education units 6 per cent, and madrasahs 3 per cent.
“The dominance of the school level, reaching 71 per cent, shows that primary and secondary education spaces have become the epicentre of violence. Meanwhile, combined, religious-based education (pesantren and madrasah) contributes 12 per cent, indicating that no educational ecosystem is truly safe from violence,” explained Ubaid.
JPPI findings also show that the most common types of violence are sexual violence at 46 per cent, physical violence at 34 per cent, bullying at 19 per cent, policies containing violence at 6 per cent, and psychological violence at 2 per cent.
“Almost half of the cases involve sexual violence. This signifies a serious failure in protecting students from the most fundamental crimes against the body and human dignity. Combined, the three main types of violence (sexual, physical, and bullying) account for approximately 89 per cent of all cases,” Ubaid clarified.
Regarding the identity of the perpetrators, Ubaid stated that 33 per cent are educators and educational staff, while 30 per cent are students, 24 per cent are adults, and 13 per cent are others.
“This data presents a very concerning fact: the largest group of perpetrators comes from within the education system itself. If you combine teachers, lecturers, educational staff, and students, more than 63 per cent of perpetrators originate from within the internal environment of educational institutions,” said Ubaid.
Regarding the specific case in South Tangerang, police are investigating the alleged psychological manipulation by principal AMA at a private SMK in Pamulang. AMA has been interrogated by the police.
“During our investigation at the school, we received information that Mr AMA arrived at the South Tangerang Police Station to consult regarding news circulating on social media. The PPA unit immediately took his statement until approximately 11:00 PM,” said South Tangerang Police Criminal Investigation Unit Head, AKP Wira Graha Setiawan, on Saturday (16/5).
Wira stated that the victim has not filed an official police report (LP) as of yet. He could not yet explain the results of the examination of AMA as the investigation is ongoing. Furthermore, Wira emphasised that the South Tangerang Police are not conducting or overseeing any mediation regarding this matter, as they are focused on uncovering the facts and truth through the investigation process.