T

he Jakarta Education Agency will send a recommendation letter to the Employment Agency (BKD) to fire a male teacher identified as J at a public elementary school in East Jakarta for allegedly sexually abusing five female students.

Education Agency head Arie Bu-dhiman said that the city would not wait until J was arrested or jailed and would soon send the recommendation letter to fire him.

'€œWe have received information about the teacher and we'€™ve decided to recommend his dismissal as a civil servant. We will not wait for him to be convicted because this is a serious offense especially since he is a teacher,'€ Arie told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Friday.

He went on to say that children should feel safe around their teachers, who should not abuse their position.

In order to dishonorably dismiss a civil servant in a provincial administration, Arie said, an agency head must send a recommendation letter to the BKD head, which later needed to be approved by a higher official such as the city secretary or the governor depending on the civil servant'€™s rank and position.

Recently, a parent of one of the victims filed a report with the National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) after their daughter complained of pain in her genitals. The girl then admitted that she had been sexually abused by her teacher, J.

Four other parents also came forward, stating that their daughters had been sexually abused by the same teacher. All students are third graders in the same school and class, and all were abused more than once. The commission later assisted the parents in pressing charges against J.

'€œWe have stopped J from teaching. Hopefully, we can finish his dismissal process as soon as possible,'€ Arie said.

Separately, East Jakarta Police Women and Children Protection (PPA) Unit head Comr. Adj. Endang Sri Lestari said J had not been named a suspect as the police were still waiting for the results of the medical checkup from the National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

'€œWe have not arrested him yet but already questioned several witnesses and are still waiting for the test results to proceed with the case,'€ she said.

Komnas PA chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait urged the police to name J a suspect as '€œthe evidence was clear'€ and J'€™s presence in the school was dangerous for children. Arist further said that the commission would cooperate with the city administration in providing counseling for the five girls to ensure their recovery.

'€œThe girls are heavily traumatized. We will assist the girls with recovery and we will accompany them every step of the way. The commission will also cooperate with the Social Affairs Ministry,'€ Arist said over the phone on Friday.

The Jakarta Police have warned that most perpetrators of child abuse, including sexual abuse, are people who know the victims well.

'€œFrom year to year, records show that child sexual abuse is the highest among all types of abuse. But those records do not include cases that are not brought to the police,'€ said Jakarta Police PPA Unit head Comr. Adj. Mumuh Saepuloh.

In 2014, the unit processed nine cases of rape and 15 molestations out of 31 child abuse reports. Most sexual abuse suspects were people who were close to the victims, such as their boyfriends, fathers, step fathers, uncles, neighbors and teachers. (rbk)