TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Schools told not to demand Idul Adha donations
Change Size
Children look on as piles of meat are chopped up by the Idul Adha 'qurban' committee. The meat was distributed to local people for the Idul Adha celebration at Al Ikhwan Mosque in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sept. 12, 2016.
(JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
T
he Jakarta Education Agency has told schools in the city not to force students to donate money for Idul Adha qurban (sacrificial animals), following a report that state senior high school SMA 101 in Joglo, West Jakarta, had asked its students to donate at least Rp 50,000 (US$3.50) each.
“I stated that students should not be forced to donate toward qurban, because it is supposed to be a learning experience,” the agency acting head Bowo Irianto said on Monday, wartakota.tribunnews.com reported.
He said that if a school wanted to collect qurban donations, it should not set a minimum amount that students must give.
“We have also summoned the school [SMA 101 for questioning]. Donations [should be voluntary and without pressure], and no minimum amount set,” he said.
Several SMA 101 students complained that they could not focus on studying as teachers came into their classrooms during study hours to ask for qurban donations.
“Some of my friends haven’t donated yet. [The teachers] kind of force the students to pay,” said a 16-year-old student who asked for anonymity.
SMA 101 representative Sartini confirmed that the school had asked for qurban donations but denied that students were forced to donate.
Child Protection Commission secretary-general Dhanang Sasongko said that forcing students to donate was a form of psychological intimidation of students, and it constituted a crime according Law No. 35/2014 on child protection.
He urged the education agency to further investigate the case and fire any teachers who forced students to donate.
The Idul Adha day of sacrifice is expected to fall on Aug. 22. (ami)
