SMP 56 students may lose battle and access to school

SMP 56 students may lose battle and access to school

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post , Jakarta

Just a few days after middle school students of SMP 56 had
returned to the comfort of their classrooms on Jl. Melawai Raya,
South Jakarta, which had been occupied by city public order
officers and policemen in a controversial land swap deal, the
Jakarta administration issued an ultimatum warning that students
would likely lose formal academic recognition unless they
transferred to other "official" schools before April 28.

"If the students fail to move to other schools before our
deadline, we will not be responsible for their legal status nor
their access to formal education," Maman Achdiat, deputy head of
the Jakarta Basic Education Agency in charge of issuing student
ID numbers, said on Monday.

The agency has said it will waive registration fees and
tuition for an entire academic year to students who transferred
to other schools, effective April 29.

Maman claimed that the offer was a last resort to "save the
students" from the prolonged dispute over the land swap deal
between the Ministry of National Education -- through its Jakarta
agency -- and developer PT Tata Disantara, owned by former
manpower minister Abdul Latief, who also owns nearby Pasaraya
Grande.

The 65 students who have insisted on remaining at their old
school in Melawai have been faced with the administration's
ultimatum amid preparations for their final exams, scheduled from
June 21 to June 26.

Maman said the agency would make sure that the students will
be evaluated on the mastery of their subjects in their first week
at the new schools.

"If we think that they have yet to master several subjects, we
will help them in getting extra sessions from their teachers at
the new schools so they can catch up with other students," he
said.

As of February, 20 SMP 56 students have been transferred to
other schools to make way for the property transfer to PT Tata
Disantara. Nine were transferred to nearby SMP 12 on Jl. Wijaya,
four to the new SMP 56 in Jeruk Purut, three to SMP 177 in
Pesanggrahan, two to SMP 29 on Jl. Bumi and one each to SMP 240
in Gandaria and SMP 13 on Jl. Tirtayasa, all in South Jakarta.

Responding to the ultimatum, chairman of the National
Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak) Seto Mulyadi
welcomed the decision as part of the agency's effort to remove
the students from the protracted legal dispute.

"On Jan. 5 this year, the agency gave a similar deadline. We
have already asked the agency to be lenient in regards the
students by giving them more time and alternatives. It seems that
the agency has attempted to accommodate the request," he said.

Seto pointed out that involving the students in the dispute
further would be highly detrimental to them.

A similar call had been made earlier by a city councillor to
exclude the students from the dispute.

The students, their parents and teachers of SMP 56 have been
protesting the 2000 property deal between the ministry and the
developer. The ministry traded the plot on which the school
stands -- located across from Melawai Plaza, which is adjacent to
Latief's Pasaraya Grande shopping center -- with schools in Jeruk
Purut and Bintaro, South Jakarta, the latter of which borders
Tangerang regency.

The SMP 56 group alleged a backroom deal between the ministry
and developer and filed a civil suit with the South Jakarta
District Court, which turned down the suit. The group is now
awaiting a ruling on their appeal with the Jakarta High Court.