Enforce 'no smoking in school' rule

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 02/25/2008 12:02 PM  |  Headlines

The Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) has called on the government to issue a more specific regulation prohibiting smoking in educational institutions.

It said the current ministerial policy banning smoking in schools and universities was ineffective.

PGRI Senior Board head Rusli Yunus said the implementation of the smoke-free zone policy at schools was poor and smokers could easily be found in schools and universities.

He said this was because the policy did not carry sanctions for violators.

"We've proposed several times that the ministry issue a regulation to strictly prohibit smoking in education institutions, but we've never received a positive response," Rusli said Saturday at the launch of the "Smoke-Free Program at Schools" project.

The project would be carried out by the Indonesian Cancer Foundation together with some NGOs and government bodies, in accordance with this year's World's Cancer Day celebration and in line with the theme of "I love my smoke-free childhood".

Rusli said the government must ban schools from getting sponsorships from cigarette companies because they introduced cigarettes to youngsters.

"But the minister (Bambang Sudibyo) responded by asking me whether PGRI had money to replace such sponsorships," he said.

In Indonesia, cigarette companies have sponsored many school events and have offered scholarship programs for students across all educational levels.

But Rusli said PGRI had refused to allow cigarette companies to sponsor its annual summits as part of the organization's commitment to set a good example for other educational institutions.

He said PGRI had refused for 24 years to accept cigarette companies' offers to fund their summits and that the government should make efforts to prevent students from smoking by taking part in smoke-free campaigns.

"The Education Ministry should also consider student health and not only their education."

The Ministry said it had been involved in anti-smoking campaigns over the past few years.

In 2001 it launched two website to help teenagers learn about the dangers of smoking.

The websites were www.bebasrokok.com and English version www.ash-free.com but they were no longer accessible.

The Indonesian Cancer Foundation (YKI) said the number of smokers under the age of 19 had increased from 69 percent of the country's total smokers of about 63 million in 2001, to 78 percent in 2004.

Soeminar Siregar of YKI said 24 percent of smokers in the country were between the age of 14 and 15, while 33 percent were 17 and 18.

"In fact, the number of underage smokers in Indonesia is the highest in the world," she said. (dia)

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