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Anticorruption badges to adorn Makassar school uniforms
School uniforms in Makassar, South Sulawesi, will soon display badges featuring antidrug and anticorruption messages
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School uniforms in Makassar, South Sulawesi, will soon display badges featuring antidrug and anticorruption messages.
The patches, displaying the messages 'I hate drugs' and 'I hate corruption', will be compulsory additions to public school uniforms from elementary to high school. The new attributes are to be sewn onto the breast pocket of each uniform.
'I wish to be a pioneer [in making the badges mandatory], hoping for it to apply nationwide. I have sent out letters to get the additional attributes sewn onto uniforms,' said Makassar Mayor Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto during a ceremony to mark the new school year in Makassar on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Ramdhan explained that the badges would act as a preemptive measure to remind young students to resist drugs and corruption. The two problems are part of the reason for moral degradation, he said, adding that Indonesia would be a better country without them.
Despite being applied only to local schools in Makassar, the policy has stirred up debate on social media. Some netizens have voiced their disagreement, saying they would rather see concrete action on the issue than simply ornamental badges.
Hanna Rahayu commented through her Facebook account: 'It is the teachers who should be wearing the anticorruption badges, not the students ' they don't know any better.'
Others voiced similar opinions, implying that some teachers had tendencies to commit corruption in relation to school fees and funding.
The policy for the badges was announced just in time for the new academic year, as many students in the country went back to school on Monday after a lengthy vacation that coincided with the Idul Fitri holiday. (rad/kes)(+++)
