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Principals learn of school closure for Asian Games through social media
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Principals say they have not been officially instructed to close their schools for the Asian Games since Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan decided to close 34 schools from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 to alleviate road congestion. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he principals of several Jakarta school say they have not been officially informed that their schools are to be closed during the Asian Games.
The city administration decided that some schools would be closed for nine days during this year's Asian Games to reduce traffic between the athletes village in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, and some of the sport venues.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said he had decided to close 34 schools from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 and suggested the 17,000 affected students do lots of homework instead.
SMA 24 state high school principal Sunaryanto said he had read about the closure but had yet to receive any instruction from the Jakarta Education Agency.
"I'm aware of the closure, but I haven't received any official information from the [education] agency. The instruction is not yet official, but based on its location, our school is among those that will be temporarily shut," Sunaryanto said, as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com on Friday.
SMA 24 is located in the vicinity of the Games' main venue, the Bung Karno sports complex on Jl. Lapangan Tembak Senayan in Central Jakarta.
The school was awaiting instructions from the education agency regarding lesson plans for the relatively long stretch of holidays, Sunaryanto said.
SMA 21 principal Taga Radja Gah concurred, saying he had learned about the closure through social media.
"I only read about it on social media. I haven't dismissed any teachers or students, since the education agency hasn't issued any official instruction," he said.
SMA 21 on Jl. Tanah Mas Raya in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, is only 1.5 kilometers from the Games' equestrian venue in Pulomas.
Taga said the school planned to assign homework to students to keep them busy during the holiday.
"We will assign homework to the students once we've been officially instructed by the education agency to temporarily close the school," he said. (rfa)
