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mid public conviction that enmity among educational institutions is triggering student brawls, students say that defending school pride is the foremost reason for the fighting.

Rivalry is more of a personal matter, which can be resolved purely between the clashing parties, without involving the whole “school gang”, says Iban, 16, a 12th-grader at a public school in Jakarta. “To some extent, other schools fight us because they want to prove they can defeat us. It’s a matter of glory, not always rivalry,” he told The Jakarta Post.

“In fact, some of our ‘enemies’ are old friends from junior high school,” he added.

Concerns have arisen over student brawls in the capital and across the country after two incidents last week, each of which claimed a student’s life.

The Education and Culture Ministry and the Jakarta Police met on Tuesday with schools in the city, to discuss how to put an end to student brawls. Education minister Muhammad Nuh said the authorities had formulated a plan to break the tradition of brawling. “The plan includes establishing strict internal regulations within schools and conduct collaborative events between schools.”

The minister added that his team would always support the police to take legal action against students violating the law.

The police have stated their readiness in maintaining security in the city. “Students are assets for the country’s future. We must find a way to put an end to these deadly brawls,” Jakarta Police chief, Insp. Gen. Untung S. Rajab, said.

On Sept. 24, students from neighboring SMA 6 and SMA 70 high schools in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, fought one another, culminating in the death of SMA 6 first-year student Alawy Yustianto Putra, who was allegedly having lunch when he and his friends were attacked. He was stabbed in the chest and died en route to hospital.

Two others were injured in the clash that occurred in the Blok M area in Bulungan, near the SMA 70 school compound.

Two days after that incident, students from vocational schools, SMK Kartika Zeni in South Jakarta and SMK Yayasan Karya 66 in East Jakarta, clashed on a street in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

Deni Yanuar, 17, a Yayasan Karya 66 student, died during the brawl.

The police have named suspects involved in both incidents and they will be charged with forceful attack with intent to inflict harm, murder, and fatal assault under Criminal Code articles 170, 338 and 351. They face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.

But can punishment put an end to this school “tradition”?

Iban said brawling was now an alay (uncool) thing for him to do. “I guess there were times when people thought that fighting other schools was cool. But I pledged to myself that I won’t do it again, especially after students were killed.”

Pratama Endrian, 24, an alumnus of a public high school in Bekasi, West Java shares that opinion.

“I fought with other schools to get known, like ‘I’m Pratama from X school’,” he recalled.

At some schools that “uphold” a fight culture, seniors may also be to blame. Based on Pratama’s experience, he said he was “trained” by his seniors to fight. “Those seniors took us to a certain place and trained us how to win fights, while bullying us at the same time.”

What stopped him, he said, were extracurricular activities at school. “During the third grade, I never had time to do this again [brawling]. We were obliged to be in school at least until 4 p.m. I never thought of doing anything afterward except going home,” he says.

Meanwhile, an official at a state school in South Jakarta said the role of alumni was vital to prevent further incidents.

“We give our students additional courses on religious subjects,” SMA 8 vice principal for student affairs, Heri Budi Prasetya, said.

“We have them recite from the Koran every morning before class, and we also prolonged school days through 3 p.m.”

High school students normally study from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. As per the Education Minister’s Regulation No. 22/2006, schools must provide at least 38 weeks of study per year and have a maximum of four-hour study periods each week. Several schools have changed their schedules to have classes ending around 3 p.m.

“Different schools have different issues. But they could try it,” Heri said. He added that although his students did not fight with other schools, institutions with a “tradition” of brawling could discuss the issue with parents and local residents to get to the roots of the problem. (fzm)