Indicated Sale And Purchase Of Uniforms To Students, 4 SMA/SMK In Yogyakarta Called Related Offices

Illustration-Sewers for school uniforms serve buyers at the Rau Serang Main Market, Banten (Via ANTARA)

YOGYAKARTA - Head of the Education, Youth, and Sports Office of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Didik Wardaya has summoned representatives of four high schools/vocational schools in the local province who are indicated to be selling and buying school uniforms to students.

"As soon as news emerged about it (the alleged sale and purchase of uniforms) we immediately asked for clarification," said Didik Wardaya when contacted in Yogyakarta, Antara, Tuesday, July 19. According to him, the four schools who were asked for clarification admitted that they had not yet had time to sell uniforms to parents.

"They do seem to prepare (uniforms) but not to sell," said Didik.

The ban on schools selling uniforms, he said, has been firmly regulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture (Permendikbud) Number 45 of 2014.

As a derivative, Didik said that he had issued a Circular (SE) regarding the ban before the momentum for new student admissions (PPDB) for SMA/SMK in DIY in 2022.

"We emphasize again that schools are not allowed to sell uniforms. We have given warnings," he said.

In principle, said Didik, schools should not direct or require students' parents to buy uniforms at school cooperatives, let alone linked it as a PPDB requirement.

"So the school uniforms are made by parents themselves. But sometimes there are some parents who don't want to bother and then look for school cooperatives," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (ORI) Representative of DIY-Central Java, Budhi Masturi, said that based on the findings, at least a dozen schools in DIY were indicated to be selling uniforms. "We believe this is an iceberg phenomenon," said Budhi.

According to him, schools are no longer openly and no longer directly selling uniforms because the DIY Disdikpora has strictly prohibited it.

"At least there are several modes of selling uniforms that we recently discovered, firstly sales are made through cooperatives, secondly sales are made through the parents' association (POT), and sales are made through several parents who were given assistance to sell," he said.

ORI DIY is currently still investigating the findings to find out the extent of school involvement.

"We are currently investigating this finding, to what extent is the involvement of schools, whether they are essentially allowed or should they be prohibited," said Budhi Masturi.