SMP 56 Melawai takes new students, despite dispute
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta
The SMP 56 junior high school in Melawai, South Jakarta, which the city administration says is illegal, has accepted 50 new students for this academic year.
Meanwhile, ongoing legal action against the school puts the future of its existing 40 students in doubt.
Farid Faqih of Government Watch (Gowa), a non-governmental organization, said the school needed to take on new students to maintain its existence.
"All educational activities at the school must continue while the legal process drags on. We now have second grade students and two classrooms of first graders. Each classroom has between 20 and 25 students who will start school on July 18," Farid said.
Gowa is currently financing the operation of the school and is paying the teachers' salaries.
The school is not charging tuition fees. It is also providing free school uniforms for new students.
SMP 56 came under the public spotlight after several teachers with the support of parents refused to move to new buildings in Jeruk Perut. They continue to operate the school in protest at a 2000 land swap deal between the Ministry of National Education and property developer PT Tata Disantara.
The company, owned by former manpower minister Abdul Latief, plans to convert the school into a business college. The school is located near the Pasaraya Grande shopping mall, also owned by Adul.
In exchange for the Melawai plot, PT Tata gave the government buildings for the Jeruk Purut school and others in South Jakarta's Bintaro area.
Gowa alleges the deal was illegal because the property swap was carried out without the president's permission. The deal smacked of corruption, Gowa said, and the group has taken legal action to fight the move.
The legal dispute worsened when Governor Sutiyoso reported the teachers to the police for running an illegal school and said the city would not recognize the students' grades.
The city cites the 2003 law on national education that requires all schools to obtain an operating license from a regional administration or the government. If found guilty, offenders face jail sentences of up to 10 years and/or a Rp 1 billion fine.
The police investigation into the case is continuing.
Meanwhile, National Commission for Children's Protection chairman Seto Mulyadi deplored the school's move to take on new students, saying it would drag innocents into a legal dispute.
Seto stressed the students who enrolled at the Melawai school would not receive any academic credits from the administration.
The commission was already helping several students from SMP 56 catch up on lessons they had missed, Seto said.
"During their school holidays, these students are studying under a program known as the 'bridging scheme' with the help of between five and 10 voluntary teachers," he said.