West Lombok Teacher Returns Rp 105 Million in Embezzled Student Savings
A teacher with the initials LA has returned approximately Rp 105 million in savings belonging to third-grade students at SDN 5 Babussalam in Gerung, West Lombok, after the money was allegedly used for personal interests. The funds were returned one day before a given deadline.
Head of SDN 5 Babussalam, Muhazzab, confirmed the return took place on Thursday afternoon, with all the money received directly by the students’ parents at the school. “It was returned yesterday and received by the parents,” Muhazzab said on Friday.
Head of the Examination and Report Assistance division at the Indonesian Ombudsman’s NTB Representative Office, Arya Wiguna, stated his office oversaw the restitution process. He confirmed the amount returned matched the students’ savings records. “We saw yesterday that everything has indeed been returned,” he said.
Despite the full restitution, Arya urged parents to report to the Ombudsman if they later discover any discrepancies or issues related to the returned savings. He stressed that his office will continue to monitor student savings programmes in schools, warning that similar suspected embezzlement cases could occur elsewhere if not anticipated.
“We will certainly continue to monitor, as this could happen in other schools,” he asserted. Arya added that his office has coordinated with the West Lombok Education and Culture Agency to evaluate the savings mechanism in schools to prevent a recurrence. “This must serve as evaluation material. We have coordinated with the Education Agency to review the school savings mechanism. There must be a policy to anticipate such problems in schools,” he concluded.
LA was previously suspected of embezzling around Rp 105 million in savings belonging to approximately 30 third-grade students. One parent, Rodi, expressed disappointment that his child’s savings had not been distributed, even though savings for other classes had been handed out earlier. He revealed his child’s savings amounted to Rp 2.5 million, which was intended to buy rice and meet family needs. The money had been saved little by little over a year from his casual work as a grain porter.