SMP 56 defiant on first day back

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

At least 40 new students of junior high school SMP 56 in Melawai, South Jakarta, attended a solemn ceremony to mark the first day of the school year, still wearing their red-and-white elementary school uniforms.

The principal, Nurlaila, in her speech told the new students and 44 second-graders to stay put amid expected intimidation and pressure owing to the ongoing legal limbo over the status of the school.

"You have enrolled here. We will still face pressure and intimidation since authorities said that the academic reports we issued were illegal. But, trust me. God will side with us," Nurlaila said.

She later distributed free books and school uniforms to the new students, who were accompanied by their parents.

The first day of the school year ended with fresh tension between the school and the city administration.

Jakarta Police grilled Nurlaila, declaring her a suspect on at least three charges: holding educational activities without a permit, document forgery and entering unlawfully the grounds of another.

The case centered around a land swap deal in 2000 between the Ministry of National Education and developer PT Tata Disantara, which is owned by businessman and former manpower minister Abdul Latief.

Some of the parents and teachers protested against the deal, which would relocate the school to Jeruk Purut, also in South Jakarta.

As the dispute drags on, not many of the original protesters remain, in the meantime, the school has received legal support and financial backup from non-governmental organization Government Watch (Gowa). Also, several officials have been reported to the police by teachers for alleged intimidation and negligence.

The parents of new students at the school acknowledged that they had enrolled their children there as they had been offered free books and uniforms, and no tuition fees.

A resident of Pasar Minggu, who requested anonymity, said that her daughter graduated from state elementary school SD 11 Pejaten Timur.

"I enrolled my daughter here as the school imposed no fee for tuition, uniforms and books," a mother of six children was quoted as saying by Antara.

Prima, a resident of Bintaro, who has a daughter at the school, expressed confidence that the government would not simply disband the school.

"Any effort to close the school down would be of no avail. Both parents and teachers would join hands to oppose it," he asserted.

He added that parents would also demand that the administration recognize the validity of academic reports issued by the school.

"Otherwise, we will file a lawsuit so that the reports are recognized," he said.