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Jakarta administration undecided about school holidays for Asian Games
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Workers install a lamp on an Asian Games banner on the Semanggi overpass in South Jakarta on Oct. 26, 2017. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
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n contrast to Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno’s statement about declaring school holidays during the Asian Games, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has said the city administration is still undecided about the plan.
“There has not been any decision on it,” Anies said on Thursday, according to tempo.co.
Anies had earlier considered closing a number of schools in the vicinity of the Asian Games venues — the GBK sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, the velodrome and equestrian center in Rawamangun and Pulo Mas, East Jakarta — to reduce traffic congestion in those areas.
However, after meeting with Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) chief Erick Thohir last week, Sandiaga said the city administration would close all schools, both private and public, in a bid to ease traffic in the capital during the Asian Games that would be held from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.
Jakarta Education Agency head Sopan Adrianto said the agency was ready to support the event. “Hence, we’ve decided to close not just a few schools in Jakarta, but all of them,” he said last week.
He said the closure would not disturb students’ learning hours, because the administration would shift the scheduled holiday from December to August.
Some parents have expressed disagreement over the plan, as it would disrupt the students’ year-end holiday plans.
The city’s notorious congestion is one of the main concerns for the Asian Games, as the Organizing Committee of Asia (OCA) has set a standard according to which the travel time between the athletes village in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, and game venues shall not exceed 34 minutes. (cal)
