School rivalries, which have been rife since the 1960s, are still a major concern despite fewer reports of school brawls in recent times, an expert warns.

"School brawls can occur for no specific reasons," psychologist Winarini Wilman from the University of Indonesia told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"Even a split-second of eye contacts can trigger a brawl.

"Students who are friends or neighbors can turn into foes during a brawl, as they associate themselves with their own different groups," she said.

"As long as social identities remain unchanged, brawls can occur at any time."

Winarini said simply changing a school's name or moving the school to another location could be effective.

"Changing the name and location of the school can at least save younger students from being influenced by their seniors and school rivals."

She said a long rivalry between state technical school STM 5 and other schools located on Jl. Budi Utomo in Central Jakarta ended when STM 5 changed its name to SMK 4 and moved to Rorotan, Cilincing, in North Jakarta.

In Bulungan, South Jakarta, state senior high school SMA 70 was often caught in fights with rival schools SMA 11 and SMA 9.

After the two latter high schools united, the brawls stopped. It did not, however, end the rivalry between SMA 70 and SMA 6.

Winarini said providing separate school buses for the different schools was another option.

"Each school needs to have its own school bus, while the government should require students to attend schools closest to their homes."

Winarini, who conducted a study in 1998, said there were 250 spots that were favorite venues for student brawls, involving more than 130 schools.

She said cooperation between the National Education Ministry, police, the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) and the city transportation agency was needed to help tackle school brawls.

"The public bus routes should be rearranged to avoid meeting points of students from the rivalling schools."

However, city education agency head Taufik Yudi Mulyanto played down the aforementioned recommendations.

"Such changes are unrealistic," Taufik told the Post.

"Besides, I think character building programs are a more feasible way in preventing brawls," he said over the phone.

He said only a few schools were caught involved in brawls.

"Schools known for their involvement in brawls consist less than 1 percent of all the schools across the city," he said.

"So let's not exaggerate the small percentage,, while we have more good students with high achievements."

According data from the education agency, Jakarta has a total of 955 junior high schools, 497 senior high schools and 574 vocational schools.

Taufik said his agency did not have specific programs for students directly involved in school brawls.

"Instilling discipline among those students is the responsibility of their respective schools and parents."

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