School building in Yogyakarta to be replaced by shopping mall
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Ambarukmo Elementary School, Sleman, Yogyakarta, will be leveled to the ground soon, to be replaced by a shopping mall. The plan by Sleman education office has sparked concern among students and their parents, as the office has yet to determine a new location for the students and their teachers.
"Construction of the mall will begin on Monday but it is not yet clear where we should go from here. Whether the students and we teachers will get a new school building or will share a building with another school is not yet clear," Untung Suryono, a teacher at the school, said on Saturday.
The school building in question is located on Jl. Laksamana Adi Sutjipto, one of Yogyakarta's main thoroughfares, which connects Yogyakarta and Solo city.
Untung said that the school had received a notice from the Sleman education office on Feb. 16 that the developer would start to erect a zinc fence and cleared some trees in the compound of the school building on Monday, sending a signal that construction of the building would commence soon.
"It will disrupt classes," he said. The school has 132 students.
Enny, another teacher, said that the education office had urged the school to move classes to nearby Catur Tunggal IV Elementary School, some 500 meters away.
"However, it is not clear when we should move from here," said Enny.
Not only teachers in the Ambarukmo Elementary School but those from Catur Tunggal IV Elementary School were also puzzled at the plan.
Suwardi, a teacher at Catur Tunggal school, said that it would be impossible for the school to accommodate students from Ambarukmo. "Our school building is already full. We even have to divide classes into morning and afternoon shifts," he said.
Catur Tunggal has 425 students, which are divided into 12 classes.
Separately, Sleman regent Ibnu Subiyanto acknowledged that a large shopping mall would be built at the location, and it would likely replace the Ambarukmo school. However, he declined to elaborate, saying that he would spell out the details on the matter in a media conference either on Monday or Tuesday.
A similar controversy is also raging at present in Jakarta, as SMPN 56 state junior high school building is set to be leveled to the ground and the site used for commercial purposes.
The dispute began in 2000, when the Ministry of National Education and private firm PT Tata Disantara signed a property transfer deal. The deal swapped the school property on Jl. Melawai Raya, South Jakarta, with the firm's property in Jeruk Purut, South Jakarta. Both teachers and students are opposed to the deal going ahead.