Bekasi students face mandatory study time

Tifa Asrianti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Bekasi   |  Sat, 05/03/2008 12:11 PM  |  Headlines

Bekasi municipality says it will issue a regulation on May 21 making nightly study time compulsory for students.

Education agency head Kodrato said Friday the regulation would also contain a call for parents to be more active in monitoring their children.

“Most residents work in Jakarta and other areas, so they are often unaware of their children’s activities. As a result, many children fail exams or use drugs. This regulation is expected to involve parents in their children’s education,” Kodrato told The Jakarta Post.

He said the administration would empower neighborhood unit heads and public order officers in malls to enforce the regulation.

“We’re familiarizing the neighborhood unit heads about it from May 2 to 20. We’ll launch (the regulation) on May 21,” he said.

Officials remain undecided on what, if any, punishments the regulation will order for violators.

Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Mohammad said his administration would force students to allocate two hours in the evening to review school lessons or finish homework.

The regulation will require students, from elementary school to high school, to study between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., either at home alone or with classmates from the same neighborhood.

During study time, no TV or video games will be allowed, and students will be barred from going to the mall or entertainment centers.

Many teachers and parents support the proposed regulation. Euis, who teaches at public elementary school SDN Bintara Jaya III, said the mandatory study time would teach students discipline.

Lies, a mother of three, welcomed the state’s efforts to try and force her children to focus on their studies.

The new policy is understandably not as popular among students. Evi, a second-year student at high school SMA 14, pointed out that students generally study at different times, according to other obligations and personal preferences.

“One person may prefer to study before dawn, one does it right after school and another at night. Studying should be done according to
our own conscience, not by force,” she said.

Another student, Dwita, doubted the regulation could be enforced.

“It will be difficult for parents to follow as most parents watch sinetron (Indonesian TV soap operas) during that time,” said the student of high school SMA 8.

Evi, who likes to save her studying for the night before an exam, said that during the compulsory study time, she would be on her way home from athletics training.

“I hope I won’t have any problems on the way home,” she said.

The municipality was inspired to make study time mandatory after hearing about the successful implementation of a similar regulation in Yogyakarta since 2003.

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