Forcing Hijab Does Not Affect School Accreditation Results, Provincial Government Of DIY Bans And Reminds Permendikbud 45/2014

Illustration of teaching and learning activities in junior high school. (Between)

YOGYAKARTA - Secretary of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) Kadarmanta Baskara Aji asked public schools not to force students to wear headscarves. The reason is that the hijab obligation does not affect the final score of school accreditation.

This was conveyed by Aji in response to the alleged case of being forced to wear a headscarf at SMAN 1 Banguntapan, Bantul Regency, allegedly for the sake of fulfilling the school's accreditation score.

"Some wear headscarves, some don't, it will not affect the accreditation results," said Baskara Aji when met at the DIY DPRD Office, Yogyakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, August 8.

Aji who is also the former Head of the Education, Youth, and Sports Office (Disdikpora) DIY emphasized that the provisions related to school uniforms have been regulated through Permendikbud Number 45 of 2014 concerning School Uniforms for Students at the Elementary and Secondary Education Levels.

The regulation states that schools may not make regulations or appeals for students to use certain religious clothing models as school uniforms.

"In principle, there should be no compulsion to wear the hijab. Accreditation is what judges something that has been regulated by the Ministry of Education and Culture," said Aji.

According to him, the religious value of students in public schools does not need to be shown through activities or programs at school in order to pursue accreditation values.

The most important thing, he said, was how the programs made by the school were able to support the teaching and learning atmosphere for students and teachers for the sake of individual achievement and educational institutions.

"If it really has an effect on accreditation for certain programs, try learning, that's the most important thing for the school family. Children go to school well, which is related to academic and non-academic intelligence. The teachers are comfortable teaching, the school runs well, and the achievements are good ," said Aji.

Previously, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (ORI) DIY suspected that the alleged case of a class X student who was forced to wear a headscarf at SMAN 1 Banguntapan Bantul was related to the fulfillment of the 2020 Education Unit Accreditation Instrument (IASP) published by the National Accreditation Board for Schools/Madrasah.

The chairman of ORI DIY, Budhi Masturi, said that the IASP 2020 included indicators, one of which was about the religious behavior of students in activities at schools/madrasahs in the graduate quality section.

The highest level or points are achieved when students demonstrate culturally religious behavior according to the religious teachings and beliefs they hold in their daily life at school/madrasah.

ORI and the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) suspect that the sound of the indicator is interpreted differently by schools in the region, including SMAN 1 Banguntapan, Bantul.