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Ministers opposes Mesuji school closures
Under threat: A large banner hangs on a house in Moro-Moro, Mesuji, Lampung, in 2011, calling for an end to the condemnation of homes and the immediate implementation of land reforms
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Under threat: A large banner hangs on a house in Moro-Moro, Mesuji, Lampung, in 2011, calling for an end to the condemnation of homes and the immediate implementation of land reforms. Farming communities in Moro-Moro have deplored local authoritiesâ measures to regulate land use in the area. (Kompas/Yulvianus Harjono) (Kompas/Yulvianus Harjono)
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span class="inline inline-center">Under threat: A large banner hangs on a house in Moro-Moro, Mesuji, Lampung, in 2011, calling for an end to the condemnation of homes and the immediate implementation of land reforms. Farming communities in Moro-Moro have deplored local authorities' measures to regulate land use in the area. (Kompas/Yulvianus Harjono)
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya says she has discussed with Culture and Primary and Secondary Education Minister Anies Baswedan measures the government will take in response to the closure of schools in Moro-Moro, Mesuji regency, Lampung.
Siti said she would soon dispatch a team to handle the school closures in the plantation area. 'Pak Anies has talked with me. I have asked the director general [the Environment and Forestry Ministry's director general for conservation] to check the situation in the field and handle the case,' she said as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Saturday.
On Nov.17, Anies reported that the ministry had coordinated with several related parties, including the Directorate General of Conservation at the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the Mesuji Education Agency, to deal with the closure of schools in Moro-Moro.
It was reported earlier that the right to education of at least 400 children in Moro-Moro was being threatened after one of three elementary schools in the area, namely SD Moro Dewe, was closed in May. The two other schools also face similar closures in the near future.
The situation arose after the Mesuji administration refused to give a permit for the schools' operation as the three schools were located in areas marred by agrarian conflicts.
Mesuji regent Khamamik permitted students at the schools to transfer to other schools, however, the other schools are a 20-kilometer round trip from Mesuji.
The schools have elicited sympathy and support from education activists and volunteers. Six months ago an online petition was posted on change.org, which called on the Environment and Forestry minister, as well as the Culture and Primary and Secondary Education minister, to take action against the closures. They hoped the government could follow up on the petition so that children in Moro-Moro regency could still avail of their right to education. (ebf)
