Many Discrimination Complaints In Jakarta Schools, PDIP Asks For Clarification Of Anies' Subordinates

Illustration of safe school zone in Temanggung, Central Java. (Between)

JAKARTA - The PDIP faction of the DKI Jakarta DPRD is scheduled to summon the Assistant for People's Welfare of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Secretariat Uus Kuswanto and the ranks of the DKI Jakarta Education Office today.

The chairman of the PDIP faction of the DKI Jakarta DPRD, Gembong Warsono, said that the summons to the subordinates of DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan was intended to ask for clarification on a number of complaints of discrimination that occurred in the school environment.

"Because there are many complaints from the public, we want to clarify the complaints from the public, it's not like that. We have to clarify, don't be one-sided. We can't talk unilaterally," Gembong told reporters, Wednesday, August 10.

Gembong explained that there are a number of discrimination issues that will be clarified, starting from the elementary, junior high, to state high school levels.

One of the cases that is now in the spotlight is the alleged coercion of the use of headscarves in two public schools in West Jakarta and South Jakarta.

On that occasion, Gembong could not elaborate on the follow-up actions to be taken by PDIP regarding complaints of discrimination at educational institutions in the capital, before receiving clarification.

"What we want to explore depends on clarification. What is the role of the agency in monitoring things like that. We don't yet know the explanation from the Head of the Education Office," said Gembong.

Regarding the allegation of being forced to wear a headscarf, this issue was previously raised by a member of Commission E of the DKI Jakarta DPRD from the PDIP faction, Ima Mahdiah.

In her Instagram account, Ima told me that there were parents of students in one elementary school and one public junior high school who claimed to be unable to afford the necessity of buying additional Muslim uniforms and hijabs for their children. Two schools are suspected of forcing their students to wear the hijab.

"Meeting elementary school children who can't afford school uniforms, I asked why public elementary schools have long clothes. I thought it was only Friday. It turned out that her mother said, 'It is mandatory to wear long clothes at school'," wrote Ima in the ima.mahdiah account, some time ago.

"I met a state junior high school student who was not ready to wear the hijab, but the teacher was forced to say verbally that those who did not wear the hijab were only non-Muslims. Even though this is a public school," he added.

In fact, Ima continued, some parents had to buy uniforms again, because the uniforms purchased previously did not match.

"There are even those who have bought regular uniforms and have been told to replace them and eventually buy them again, subject to additional fees," he said.