Minister Of Education And Culture Nadiem: Local Government Only Fires Parties Forcing Students At SMKN 2 Padang To Use Hijab

Minister of Education and Culture. Nadiem Makarim. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud) Nadiem Makarim asked the local government to impose sanctions on those involved in coercing non-Muslim students at SMK Negeri 2 Padang, West Sumatra to wear the hijab.

"I ask the local government in accordance with the applicable mechanism to immediately give strict sanctions for disciplinary violations for all parties involved. Including the possibility of implementing the release of office so that this issue will become our common lesson in the future," said Nadiem as quoted from the video uploaded to the account. His official Instagram @nadiemmakarim, Sunday, January 24.

He said, cases of intolerance among students like this could not be tolerated by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Because, this coercion case not only violates the values of Pancasila but also violates the applicable rules.

The rules that he means are Article 3 Paragraph 4 of the Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 45 of 2014 concerning uniforms for students at the primary and secondary levels. Nadiem explained that in the regulation, it was stated that the school's basic clothes were regulated by each school and still paid attention to the rights of every citizen to practice their religious beliefs.

In addition, there are other regulations that it touches on, namely Article 4 Paragraph 1 of Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System which regulates that education is carried out in a democratic, just and non-discriminatory manner and Article 55 of Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights which mentions each children have the right to worship according to religion and think according to their intellectual level and under the guidance of their parents.

So, referring to the existing rules, the school cannot arbitrarily make rules or calls for students to dress not in accordance with their religion and beliefs.

"Schools should not at all make rules or appeals to students to use specific religious clothing models as school uniforms. Especially if they are not in accordance with the religion or beliefs of students," he said.

"The government will not tolerate teachers and principals who commit violations in the form of intolerance," he added.

For information, Elianu Hia's facebook account uploaded a video containing a non-Muslim student calling for not wearing a hijab at SMK Negeri 2 Padang.

Elianu, who claims to be the student's father, explained that they are non-Muslims, so they feel uncomfortable wearing the hijab. However, the school is adamant about carrying out this obligation because it is the school's policy.

This caused criticism from many parties. Then, the West Sumatra Education Office then clarified. In the clarification, the principal of SMK Negeri 2 Padang, Rusmadi, officially submitted his apology.

"As the Principal of SMKN 2 Padang, I would like to apologize for all the mistakes of the staff in the field of student affairs and counseling in applying the rules and dress code for students," said Rusmadi in a press conference on Friday, January 22 evening.